There was a lot of noise and commotion outside of the general's office door. Subaru squirmed restlessly in his chair as he awaited questioning. The look that was being cast on him by General Monou was enough to make any steady man lose his composure.

Monou lit a cigarette and sucked in a lungful of smoke. Subaru's eyes were trained on him as the tall man whipped a chair around and sat in it backwards, his dark red eyes still looking at the ensign. He rested his arms across the back of the chair and leaned forward. "So," he started.

Subaru clutched the sides of his seat as Monou took another drag from his cigarette.

"If the report I read is to be believed, you came back from the forest after engaging yourself in the last fight, while still injured..."

Subaru's cheeks colored a little but at least he didn't wince.

"With a girl who apparently had been a witch, but now has no memory of it. You also claim to have seen the late Captain Doumeki."

"Yes, General."

Monou blew smoke from his lips and it curled into the air like weightless water. "Please, Subaru, just Fuuma right now."

Uh... "Yes, Fuuma."

The general nodded. "You mind telling me how the hell this happened?"

"I... I'm not sure. While I was fighting I saw another hunter get dragged into the forest by spirits. I went to follow him and retrieve him but I couldn't find him. That was when the witch – girl, sorry – attacked. She asked for my name and started to drain my energy from me. That was when she was shot in the side with an arrow."

"An arrow," Fuuma repeated.

Subaru nodded. "Doumeki's arrow."

Fuuma lifted an eyebrow. "He just appeared?"

"He wasn't alone. That... thing that has him was with him. He calls himself Watanuki Kimihiro." Subaru did his best to keep the anger from his voice, but it was a difficult battle. "I don't know what that man is."

Fuuma nodded gravely. "No one knows. He's not a witch or spirit of any kind, that much is certain, and from what we can gather there are more of his kind."

Subaru deflated a little at being reminded of that. He didn't know how they would stop a creature like Watanuki alone, but with more like him it would be impossible. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to stop a force of nature, like making the wind stop blowing or the sun stop rising. It simply wasn't done.

"What happened then?" Fuuma pressed.

"That man told Doumeki to move his aim at something that I couldn't see, but they both could. When Doumeki's arrow hit.. well, whatever it was, I could see a brief flash of a spirit with a large red eye before it was destroyed. Watanuki said that spirit had possessed the girl and turned her into a witch. He said there are more of them, and that if they all die the witches will be released." Fuuma's eyes bored into him in an unsettling way. Subaru did his best to hold the gaze and assure the other man of his honesty. "Watanuki also said something... strange."

"Yes?"

Subaru paused. He didn't quite know what he'd been told meant. "He said he would 'put an end to this dream.' That he would stop the chaos."

Fuuma pulled the cigarette from his lips, his mouth slightly ajar. "He plans to put an end to the witches and corrupted magic?"

The ensign shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose, though I don't really know how or why."

"What about Doumeki? What did he say?"

The very memory of it nearly made him choke up. "He..." Subaru ground his teeth together. "He doesn't remember anything. He does whatever that man tells him to."

General Monou lowered his arms and sat up straight. "I see."

Grave news indeed. Watanuki was a wild card. He did as he pleased, and at the moment it apparently pleased him to end the decades long battle between the witches and the hunters. Who he took for his own along the way didn't seem to matter. Kunogi Himawari was missing, Doumeki Kino and Yakani had been easily snatched up by Watanuki's sister, and Doumeki Shizuka himself had walked up to that man under his own power and willfully handed himself over. It was downright mystifying. Why was it all happening now? If these beings were as old as they claimed to be, why hadn't they stopped the witches before?

It was baffling.

Monou stood up and put his chair back in front of the cluttered desk. "That will be all, Ensign. You may return to your bunk for now. Get some rest."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Subaru stood up and left the small office quickly.

It was unfortunate that he had to pass by the infirmary on his way to his bunk due to the painful reminder of what he saw inside the populated room.

Commander Sakurazuka had been injured that night. He was till in critical condition, so he hadn't even regained consciousness. Subaru could only stare for a moment at the man's sleeping face before he had to look away. The image of Seiichiro being blind in his right eye felt like a knife stab in his gut.

Subaru fell into his bunk with a shuddering breath and ended up in a dreamless sleep.

. . . . . . . . . . .

It was very early morning. Pink dawn clouds were like polka-dots in the pale blue sky. Trouble seemed to avoid the youngest of the morning hours, so those few souls brave enough to venture out for food and supplies could be found at that time poking through the wares of the opened stalls.

Ensign Sumeragi picked his way carefully around the few people that were out as he headed towards a fruit stand. He wanted to buy some apples for himself since they were in season. It felt like the only highlight he would have for the whole week.

Every night their village was under siege. Every morning the infirmary was filled with more wounded. They wouldn't be able to continue at such a pace for many more days.

The fruit stand had barely anything on display, but he wasn't surprised. The vendor likely hadn't been able to leave the village walls and harvest more. The price would be at a premium. Subaru fished some coins from his pocket and handed them to the tired man that was selling the small red apples he wanted.

When he went to pick up a rather nice looking one Subaru had to pause as a small child's hand reached for the same apple. He stifled his shock and investigated the tiny person next to him. "Child, where are your parents? You should be inside right now."

The girl had long blond hair down to her waist. Big blue eyes looked up at him from a smooth countenance. "I am fine, Uncle."

Uncle? Che. Now he felt old. "Really now," he leaned down a little to better see her face. "It is dangerous outside, especially for children. Please go home where you're safe."

The girl smiled at him. The expression looked strangely... too old for her face. "You mustn't be too harsh on my brother. He really does mean well."

He blinked in confusion. "Who...?"

"Kimihiro."

Subaru felt rather proud of himself when he didn't suddenly start screaming. He managed to stay relatively calm on the outside, even if his heart suddenly started pounding so hard he thought it might leap right out of his throat. "Who are you?" He hissed angrily.

The girl merely continued to smile at him in seemingly benign ignorance of his immediate frustration. "My name is Kohane. Kimihiro is my brother."

Subaru knelt down to be at her level. It didn't seem as though she wanted to run away any time soon. "Your brother is a monster!" He growled lowly. There were too few people out as it was, he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention. "Doumeki remembers nothing of us!"

Kohane grabbed the apple she'd reached for earlier and held it delicately in her hands. Her finger nails were perfect and painted pink. "It was necessary. Your captain had been born for my brother, after all. In order to live forever with him, Kimihiro had to take Shizuka to the source of his powers, which is a dimension all unto itself. If pain of any kind enters such a dimension, it can easily warp the power into something terrible. It would have destroyed Kimihiro if he had not taken those memories away."

Subaru's jaw hung open at the juicy bit of detail he'd just been told. It was no wonder the Travelers were so powerful. They had a whole dimension to house their powers! "But Doumeki can no longer think for himself," he replied, his voice strained. "He's lost who he is!"

The little girl closed her eyes as her smile grew. "And that is where you must forgive my brother. He does not do it on purpose – no Traveler does. You see, the older we get, the more our magic surrounds us. Kimihiro only wants Shizuka to be happy. His magic fills Shizuka's body, and the effect of that is complete peace. Shizuka's only focus is Kimihiro because of this. He can still think, and has other desires."

"You lie!"

"Why do you suppose that my brother wants to destroy the source of your troubles here?" Kohane rubbed her fingers across the delicate red skin of the fruit in her hands. "He's only fulfilling Shizuka's wish to protect everyone."

"Even if Doumeki doesn't remember us? Does he still want us saved?"

"Whether he remembers now or not does not matter. At one point in time he had wished it, and now Kimihiro will make it happen. It is the very reason why he saved you the other night."

"And the teasing?"

Kohane tilted her head to the side slightly. "He's vain sometimes. Shizuka certainly enjoys the attention."

The ensign's face colored red. He opened his mouth to retort when a long, slender hand settled on Kohane's shoulder. The girl looked up at the person that came up behind her. "Kazahaya," she greeted.

The very pretty blond man drew her closer. "Little feather, you know it's dangerous for you in this world. Your family would be very upset to learn you were here."

Subaru quickly stood up to his full height. He would recognize an aura like this anywhere now. It's another one!

"You won't tell them, will you?" Her grin stated that she didn't seem to care if he did or not.

"Only if you stay out of trouble next time! Your brother and I have a lot to take care of here. Please go home for now. I'm sure Kimihiro will bring you here later, once the corruption has been cleansed."

"Another one!" Subaru voiced out loud.

The man, Kazahaya, moved his gaze towards the ensign. "Ah, Ensign Subaru. Kimihiro was right, you really are cute."

This time when his cheeks colored with a blush, it was with indignation. "You're just like him!"

Kazahaya smiled. "Perhaps." He backed up a pace and tugged Kohane with him. "Come, child. It's time to leave."

"All right, Uncle."

"Che! And don't call me uncle! I'm only half of your brother's age, after all."

"You're still five hundred years older than me."

When the hunter attempted to follow them, they slipped behind view of a different stand, then were gone without even a whisper.

. . . . . . . . .

The temple grounds were in the midst of a perfect summer sunset. Subaru did not know where he was, or how he came to be here. It felt surreal, even though everything was in painfully sharp focus.

"It's a dream, Subaru."

He turned around and saw Watanuki himself as he reclined on a low sofa on the porch, Doumeki asleep in his arms.

"Captain!"

Watanuki ran his fingers through the ex hunter's short dark hair. "He can't hear you. I told you, this is merely a dream."

"Why have you brought me here?"

Watanuki chuckled and pressed his face against one of Doumeki's strong shoulders. "So angry, Subaru. It's like watching a kitten hiss." His eyes closed in mirth. "It's cute."

"Stop calling me that!" He took a few steps closer to the temple building's veranda.

Watanuki held Doumeki like a delicate china doll, head held in one hand, body against the Traveler, while the other hand moved up and down his exposed skin slowly and with meaning. "You miss him, don't you?" Sometimes watching such displays Subaru felt like he was watching a train wreck. "Unrequited infatuation can be physically painful, can't it?"

"You're sick."

Watanuki laughed.

"Why? Why have you done it this way? Why Doumeki? He was the best of us!" Subaru balled his hands into fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"It's a small sacrifice, isn't it? One glorious, handsome, magnificent hunter, in exchange for the end of your thousand-years long battle? Besides, it isn't as if I chose Shizuka. It was the fates that created him for me. He is my Intended."

"Is this a joke? Or is it this way with all of you? You steal someone away because a fate somewhere deemed you were supposed to?"

Watanuki's eyes narrowed. "Do no take our bondings lightly, boy. You do not know the agony of an eternity alone. You do not know the physical pain of your heart, watching time and again as your lovers grow old and die. I hardly stole my Shizuka. As you saw yourself, he came to me willingly. To fight the red string of fate that bound us together would have killed him." Kimihiro slid a hand up Shizuka's leg and under the fabric of his kimono – a much more elaborate one than the simple yukata Subaru remembered seeing him in last time.

"Why now?" He averted his eyes from the excessive fondling.

"We Travelers alone could not defeat these witches without something more powerful to fight the abomination spirits with. Shizuka's strength has bloomed under my applied seal. His desire to end the terror of your witches, coupled with his power and my desire to please him is enough to finally end it all."

Subaru deflated, his shoulders slumped and his head hung in defeat. "It's not fair."

Kimihiro smiled then. "When is a hunter's life ever fair?"

. . . . . . . .

Author's Note:

As one review pointed out, Watanuki is kind of evil and the Intended partners are a bit mindless. Well, I have a dirty, dirty secret to reveal.

Yes, it's all true. The point of it all was to have both sides of the fight, the hunters and Travelers, seem gray and murky. Nothing in life is ever really that black and white anyway. Watanuki has certainly gone a bit crazy as he's gotten older. Is it really better for Doumeki to be this way now, to lose himself even though the future of his old world will be safe? Is Watanuki's teasing harmless or does he do it because he spites Subaru's infatuation for Doumeki? Well, I'm not telling, the point is to draw your own conclusions. I kept imagining the shock that Subaru would go through at seeing Doumeki as he is now. I thought the tension was just too delicious to abandon.

Please offer any constructive criticism you'd like, or things that you'd like to see yourself. The story will be drawing to a close very, very soon.