Notes: This is the chapter with M-rated content. Don't like, skip ahead. You won't miss anything XD;;

Part XIII

The first thing Arthur realised as he awoke was that he was somewhere warm and soft. Something was pressed against him – probably someone, since it was moving slightly.

Arthur was content to keep his eyes closed. Last night he had dreamt a wondrous dream where he was reunited with Kiku and... he felt himself grinning; his cheeks heated up.

The second thing he realised was that he didn't seem to be wearing clothing. Wait a minute. He was lying somewhere pressed up against someone completely naked? That didn't sound like his usual bedtime habits.

Arthur opened his eyes and looked into the sleeping face of Kiku Honda.

So it wasn't a dream after all...

He reached out and gently touched Kiku's nose, smiling like a curious little child. Had it really happened? Had it really been Kiku whose hands had touched him in ways that set him off to new heights?

Had he really taken Kiku in the early morning, when the sky was just lightening from velvety black to dark indigo?

Arthur kissed the Japanese's nose and eyelids, grinning when the other smiled in his sleep. He looked so angelic and vulnerable in slumber; Arthur wanted to hold him close and protect him.

Kiku opened his eyes as well, a blush rapidly appearing on his cheeks as he smiled sheepishly at Arthur. "Good morning," Arthur whispered to him, kissing him gently.

"That's the wake-up call I've always wanted to have," Kiku murmured, shuffling even closer. Arthur looked down into his dark chocolate-coloured eyes, content just to immerse himself in Kiku's gaze.

"Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are beautiful?" he asked almost conversationally, wrapping an arm around Kiku's bare torso underneath the covers.

Kiku blushed again. "Iie," he admitted, nuzzling against Arthur's right shoulder. "But yours are more beautiful."

"I don't think so," Arthur said with a chuckle as Kiku's legs intertwined with his. "I could get lost in yours forever."

He felt Kiku smile against his skin. "Last night was my first," the Japanese added bashfully.

"I was aware of that," Arthur replied, pressing a kiss to the top of Kiku's head. "How was it?"

"Everything I've ever dreamed of." Kiku looked up at him, his eyes filled with happiness and hope.

Happiness and hope were things Arthur hadn't seen in quite a while.

"Francis! Where's Artie?" Alfred demanded at breakfast.

"Upstairs avec Kiku," Francis replied calmly. "At least, that's where I think he is."

Alfred pouted, shoving his eggs around his plate with his bulldozer-like fork. "I want to see him," he complained.

"We all do, stupid," Madeline chided, sipping her orange juice. "Just be patient, all right?"

Arthur kissed a trail down Kiku's neck, loving the little moans the Japanese gave him.

"Like it?" he whispered against pale skin, tongue lightly tapping where his lips had just been. Kiku gave a shudder.

"H-hai, Arthur," he breathed, arching his body into Arthur's touch. The Brit smirked slightly, nipping and kissing along Kiku's collarbone.

Kiku moaned loudly, face blushing bright crimson as he rubbed against Arthur; Arthur kissed him fiercely, one hand reaching down between them to lightly touch the tip of Kiku's member. Stifling his own moan when Kiku's hand did the same, Arthur rubbed up against the Japanese, still kissing and stroking and rubbing until it was all just a blur in his mind.

Tension mounted inside him, spiralling upward with every single rub, kiss, and stroke. Kiku's hands were inexperienced but their touch felt almost magical against his body – it had been so long since he last felt these passions, these sensations and Kiku was going to bring him over the edge –

"Arthur!" Kiku cried, muffling a groan against Arthur's lips as he came. That set Arthur over the edge; he kissed Kiku back fiercely as the tension seemed to flow out of him – he had reached the peak and now he was falling, falling on waves of pleasure, his hands reaching back up to cup Kiku's face. The smallest of smiles graced his lips.

"I love you," he whispered, and Kiku's face lit up in a way that made him look irresistible.

"Aishiteru," Kiku whispered back as Arthur kissed him again.

"Honestly, why is it taking them so long to wake up?" Alfred demanded, standing up. "I'm going to go check on them."

"We'll come with you," Madeline said, pulling Francis to his feet.

"We don't need three people to wake up two," Francis pointed out, but the other two glared at him and he subdued, following them up the stairs. "I still think it's a bad idea," Francis muttered.

"Shut up," Alfred replied with a grin, knocking on Kiku's door. "Wakey wakey!"

Arthur stifled a curse against Kiku's shoulder when someone knocked on their door.

"What is it, Alfred?" Kiku called back, shifting so that he was facing the door, back pressed against Arthur's chest.

"Is Artie in there with you?" Alfred's voice came, muffled slightly by the door.

"Where else would I be?" Arthur called back; Kiku giggled slightly. Chuckling slightly, Arthur pressed a kiss to Kiku's throat.

There was silence before the door flew open. Alfred stood there, looking rather shell-shocked. Behind him was Madeline and Francis, Francis looking awkward for once.

"Good morning, Alfred," Arthur drawled as Alfred goggled at him. He wrapped his arms around Kiku, smirking.

Alfred frowned slightly. "I didn't get the memo about you and Kiku!" he exclaimed. "So that's why he's been acting even more depressed than the rest of us?"

"Alfred," Kiku chided. "Do take your mindlessness somewhere else."

The American pouted. "Well, now that we know that... uh, you two are awake... there's breakfast downstairs, you know."

"Thanks," Arthur mumbled as they closed the door.

The spring days spent at Bonnefois Villa with Kiku were like little dreams to Arthur. It felt amazing to be back – to be free to spend all his days in the sun with loved ones. The cellar seemed all but a distant nightmare now, when he could walk hand-in-hand with Kiku along the beach at Nice.

Kiku had returned to him his wand and the vial of Felix Felicis from more than a year ago. He also had something else – a stack of old papers that Dumbledore had left him.

"Dumbledore said in his will that they're the diaries of Odoacer of Germania," Kiku said as Arthur looked at the well-preserved parchment, fingers tracing over the runes.

"Did Dumbledore leave anyone else anything?" Arthur asked. "They might help."

"He gave Alfred some of Fawkes' tears," Kiku replied, blushing as Arthur put an arm around him. "And he gave me his glasses."

"May I see them?" Arthur queried, smiling at Kiku. The Japanese nodded, reaching for a little case.

The half-moon spectacles lay there, glinting in the sunlight through the library window.

"They buried Dumbledore with a copy of these glasses," Kiku said, holding them up to the light. "These glasses carry powerful magic all on their own. I think they're goblin-made or something."

"No, it seems more... well... it seems different from goblin-made objects," Arthur said, remembering the sword of Godric Gryffindor. "Goblin-made artefacts only attract things that will strengthen it. These..." he pointed to the scratches and stains all along the frame. "If these frames were made by goblins they would be in perfect shape."

Kiku nodded, biting his lower lip slightly. Arthur frowned, noticing that the scratches were actually markings.

"There's something carved on the frames," he said quietly, getting up from the desk and walking to the bookshelves.

"What are you looking for?" Kiku asked.

"A book on faerie magic."

"Faerie magic is very different from traditional witchcraft and wizardry," Arthur read from a book. "It is more grounded in the natural elements and focuses more on love and happiness. Faeries do not require wands to perform their spells – their magic is imbued in everything they make from their infamous wine to their magic mirrors. Nowadays two different creatures share the name of 'the fae'. The first are the insect-like fairies that like to be decoration in Wizarding dwellings. The second are the wise, skilled faeries of old who used to live all throughout Britain but are now confined to the wooded areas far from both Muggle and Wizarding eyes." He looked up, smiling at Kiku as if that was the answer to all their questions.

Kiku frowned in confusion. "Are you saying that... that these glasses were made by the faeries?"

"Perhaps," Arthur replied, putting them on and looking down at a page from Odoacer's diary. He blinked and then gasped. "I can read it!" he exclaimed. "I can read the diary!"

"What does it say?" Kiku asked, leaning on Arthur's shoulder and looking at the parchment. "It still looks unintelligible to me..."

Arthur frowned slightly at the words on the page. "Let's see... uh... there's something about his daughter Islode on this page. She's only fourteen, but she's moved to... to live with some bloke called Brennus and his children." He paused. "They're all Nations, I think. Islode lived with the Anglo-Saxon tribes... the date's sometime in the fifth century, when they moved to England."

"Brennus adopted her?" Kiku asked; Arthur nodded.

"In a way, I suppose." He flipped several pages. "She's died," he said after a moment. "Reborn as... as a child. This was after the Vikings sacked Lindisfarne in 793. Odoacer says that Islode's brother led the attacks."

Kiku's eyes went wide. "Her brother?" he echoed.

"Yeah." Arthur handed him the glasses. "He was the personification of the Scandinavian tribes that they called Vikings."

Kiku frowned as he read the entry. "But that doesn't make sense," he said after a moment. "She died and came back as a child. But you died once... and... you're not a child..."

"The Viking raids devastated the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms," Arthur pointed out, tapping the parchment. He didn't want to mention to Kiku that he had died twice. "That means that if a Nation is damaged almost irrevocably, they would die and be reborn as a child."

They turned their attention back to the story unfolding. "The dates all skip. I don't think Odoacer was any good about writing regularly," Kiku said.

Arthur looked at the dates. "That's true," he said after a moment. "But all of these entries are about Islode. I think Dumbledore just gave me the pages about her. She must be important somehow."

"You're late," Madeline noted as Arthur and Kiku shuffled into the dining room for lunch.

"We-we-we w-were reading s-something," Kiku stammered, blushing pink. Francis sniggered.

"Right," he said, winking. Arthur smacked him about the arm as he sat down. Kiku giggled.

"I wonder when Harry's going finally come out of hiding and fight Voldemort," Alfred complained as they ate lunch. Kiku was stabbing half-heartedly at his salad; Arthur was eating a grilled sandwich.

"I saw him at Bill and Fleur's," Arthur said after he had swallowed his mouthful of sandwich. "He's on a mission from Dumbledore with Ron and Hermione; they're looking for something."

"What are they looking for?" Francis asked.

Arthur shook his head. "Can't tell you," he said. Alfred pouted.

"Please, Artie? Please tell us!"

Arthur shook his head harder. "No; I swore silence."

Even as he said that, he suddenly felt a searing pain in his lower regions. "Arthur!" Kiku cried, noticing his expression of pain. Arthur clutched his stomach; his hands came away bloodstained.

Kiku was in hysterics.

"Arthur!" he screamed, catching the Brit as he toppled out of his chair. Francis carried him to the nearest couch; Kiku noticed with horror that Arthur's borrowed white shirt was rapidly turning crimson. "Arthur, don't die... dozo... what happened?"

"I don't know," Arthur gasped, green eyes desperate. "Someone help..."

Kiku shook his head. "I don't know what to do!" he cried hysterically. Madeline handed him a bottle of dittany; he smeared it all over the gash in Arthur's torso. It smoked and started to heal, but more blood was gushing out. Kiku felt tears roll furiously down his cheeks. "Please, Arthur, please hold on..."

He couldn't lose Arthur. Not now. Arthur's face was turning pale with blood loss already. If only they had something powerful... something with powerful healing properties... dittany wasn't working...

"Phoenix tears!" Alfred cried suddenly, descending down on Arthur and nearly knocking Kiku away. "Dumbledore left me some phoenix tears, remember?" He took out a vial from the folds of his robes, opened it, and placed a drop on the gash.

It worked like a miracle. Kiku gaped as the wound started to heal and colour seeped back into Arthur's cheeks. Francis waved his wand, clearing the blood from the couch.

"Thanks, Alfred," Arthur mumbled. He took Kiku's hand, squeezing it slightly.

And then, to Kiku's consternation, he passed out.