The setting sun illuminated the courtyard beautifully, and Yuki carefully picked his way around the fallen trees and large rocks strewn all over the stone pathways. He had no idea what had caused such destruction, but he was eager not to meet it. There weren't any guards in sight, and that relieved Yuki greatly. He never wanted to relive his last experience with them. Ever.

When he was a few feet away from the wall underneath Shuichi's balcony, he heard an ominous grunting noise behind him. Turning around slowly, he saw a hulking shape moving towards him, carrying a very large stick. He gulped and started backing up.

"Umm…K?" he said quietly, trying to talk into the microphone K had attached to his shirt. "A little help here?"

"Oh, now you want my help? I see how it is." K's voice said in his ear. "You're on your own, lover boy."

"K!" Yuki hissed, but before he could say anything else, the creature in front of him swung the stick at his head and he was forced to hit the ground to avoid getting his head taken off by the log.

The thing in front of him took a few ground-shaking steps forward and Yuki could barely make out what it was in the dimming light. A gigantic and, best he could tell, pissed off elephant was standing in front of him, clutching a ripped-up tree in its trunk. As it swung the log again, Yuki yelled and rolled to the side.

"Cinda!" a voice above Yuki screamed. "Stop tormenting the peacocks!"

The elephant immediately dropped the log, looked cowed. However, when it again caught sight of Yuki, it advanced again.

"HEY! Don't make me come down there!" the voice yelled again. Yuki looked up to see the source of the yelling and saw Shuichi pop his head out over the edge of the balcony. "Stop being belligerent!"

Cinda, not one to give up so easily, stretched out her trunk and snagged Yuki's shirt. Yuki yelled again and tried to break loose. He could hear K and Ryuichi laughing in his ear.

"I told you to stop messing with the peacocks!" Shuichi screeched, hanging farther over the edge of the balcony. "DROP IT!"

Cinda didn't obey, and Shuichi straddled the balcony, trying to get close enough to Cinda to smack her.

"BAD ELEPHANT!" Shuichi yelled, swinging at Cinda with one hand and holding onto the edge of the balcony railing with the other.

Yuki looked up again while he struggled against Cinda's grip and saw Shuichi take a particularly violent swing at Cinda. He lost his balance and toppled off of the balcony. Without hesitation, Cinda dropped Yuki unceremoniously and caught Shuichi gently with her trunk. She sat him down and dusted him off as best she could.

"Thanks girl…you didn't kill the bird, did you?" Shuichi said weakly, glancing around the elephant to get a better look at the courtyard. He gasped when he spotted Yuki sitting on the ground, looking disgruntled. "What were you doing to my elephant?"

"Nothing….it attacked me." Yuki responded, trying to get off of the ground without any embarrassing sound effects. His back felt like it had been split in two and the lava burn on his wrist had been scraped open.

"It? She's a she, you dumbass." Shuichi said as curtly as he could. Before he could start raging at the prince in front of him, however, he remembered Mika's threats. He gulped and hugged Cinda's trunk to him. He couldn't afford to lose her. "I'm sorry, just a bit…tired…"

"Tired. Right." Yuki replied, pretty upset about the unwarranted elephant attack. He tried to remember his earlier promise to himself about being princelike, but couldn't quite bring himself to be nice.

"Be Eiri! You're a debonair prince!" K ordered into the microphone.

"Well, I'm sorry if she hurt you or anything." Shuichi said, starting to stroke Cinda's trunk.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Yuki replied, trying his best for a smile and not quite getting there. He looked up to meet Shuichi's eyes and was slightly startled.

Shuichi's voice sounded calm and sweet, but the look in his eyes was enough to make anyone fear for their life.

"Alright then. We done here?" Shuichi asked, trying to be cordial. Yuki could sense the boy's inner attitude starting to come out.

"Actually, I wanted to-" Yuki tried to say, wanting a chance to win Shuichi over.

"Goodnight." Shuichi said, cutting Yuki off before he had a chance to work his magic and started to walk away.

"Push harder!" K's voice rang in Yuki's ear. "Stop him!"

"Listen, Shuichi, I wanted to talk to-"

"Don't use my first name. I don't know you." Shuichi said, narrowing his eyes and moving closer to Cinda. Under his breath he added, "And I don't care to."

"I'm sorry, please just listen-" Yuki tried to say, but a derisive noise from Shuichi cut him off.

"No! I won't!" Shuichi said loudly, his anger getting the best of him. "Don't think you can just come out here and boss me around! You don't own me!"

"Not yet…" Yuki said quietly, getting upset. He had tried to be nice and it hadn't worked.

"Bad Yuki!" Ryuichi said into the microphone in a high-pitched squeal.

"Behave!" K ordered, trying to salvage the conversation.

"Nothing's set in stone…Hiro could…" Shuichi tried to say, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of Hiro.

"He's gone. I won." Yuki said, ignoring the protests of K and Ryuichi. He was butchering the situation, but he was tired of being treated like dirt. He had gone through a lot to see Shuichi again.

"You're a jerk."

"And?" Yuki replied nonchalantly, picking at his fingernail and raising an eyebrow. The Eiri façade had faded completely.

Shuichi was shocked into silence. He looked at the man standing in front of him and couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it earlier. He was so similar to the street rat that had saved him, looked just like Yuki. He had the same smirk, everything.

"Yuki?" Shuichi asked quietly.

"No. My name's Eiri." Yuki said quickly, almost tripping over his words. He hadn't expected Shuichi to figure it out so quickly. "You're obviously confused."

"Obviously." Shuichi said coolly, more than a little disappointed. He had been so sure for those few blissful seconds. "I'm going to bed."

Yuki nodded, a little bit shaken from Shuichi's insight. Shuichi patted Cinda on the trunk and she lifted him back up to the balcony. Yuki was about to chalk the evening up to bad luck when K's voice buzzed into his ear.

"Go after him, you fool! And for Allah's sake, be nice!" K shrieked, unwilling to let all of his hard work go to waste. "You've pretty much blown it!"

"I can't climb thin air!" Yuki whispered angrily, backing away from Cinda.

"Do I have to do everything?!" K said, his voice getting higher and higher.

There was a loud crack behind Yuki, and a ladder appeared on the side of the palace wall. Yuki didn't hesitate; he ran over to the ladder and started climbing, looking over his shoulder to make sure Cinda wasn't going to resume her beating attempts. When he reached the balcony, he saw Shuichi disappear into the room inside. There were tears streaming down his face.

"Shuichi, wait!" Yuki called out. He had been angry before, but seeing Shuichi in pain had mellowed him out beyond belief.

"I told you not to use my name!" Shuichi yelled, the tears apparent in his voice. "Leave me alone!"

"I'm sorry, I –"

"No you're not. You don't care, you don't know. You probably came up here to butter me up or to check out what you have coming, right? Right?" Shuichi said, ending in a considerably louder voice.

"No, -"

"Then get it over with! What do you have to offer? Huh?" Shuichi said, acting as if he hadn't heard Yuki's protests. "Let the buttering begin."

"Say something nice!" Yuki heard Ryuichi chirp. "Compliment him, cheer him up!"

"Yeah, I'd play along. He looks like he might push you off the balcony." K said into the microphone, halfway serious, halfway wanting to hear Yuki's best attempt at a compliment.

"You're…" Yuki started, but Shuichi wasn't about to let him get a word in.

"I'm what? Beautiful? Heard it. Rich? Obviously." Shuichi said, trying his hardest not to physically harm the idiotic prince in front of him. He hated him, hated the fact that Mika was trying to run his life.

"How about insane?" Yuki muttered. He heard K sputter on the other end, but he didn't care. "How about psychotic?"

"What?" Shuichi returned. The word choice surprised him; he was sure he'd heard it before. "What was that last word?"

"Psychotic." Yuki answered, missing the significance of the word.

Shuichi stood in a silent reverie for a few minutes while Yuki stood next to the railing watching Shuichi intently. Shuichi turned the word over and over in his mind, trying desperately to remember where he'd heard it. He glanced around his room, around the balcony, and then his eyes landed on Prince Eiri. The answer hit him; Yuki. Yuki had called him psychotic when they'd met in the street. Thinking about Yuki made the tears come rushing back in full force and before he could stop himself, he was shaking uncontrollably on the floor.

"What the hell…" Yuki said to himself before he remembered that he wasn't alone.

"Get over there!" K shouted.

"You big meanie! You made him cry!" Ryuichi said, and Yuki guessed that the muffled 'thwump' that followed was Kuma being thrown at the microphone.

Yuki didn't know what to do; he wanted to hold Shuichi, to comfort him, but he wasn't sure if the kid would let him come that close. He didn't want to exacerbate the situation, but he felt like a fool just standing there.

"Yuki…" Shuichi whispered through his racking cries, clutching his arms and rocking on the floor.

The sound of his name galvanized Yuki into action. He crossed the balcony in a handful of rushed steps and went down to his knees next to Shuichi. He pulled the smaller prince into his arms and held him. Shuichi started crying even harder and threw his arms around Yuki's neck, nestling his head under Yuki's chin. He seemed to have momentarily forgotten his hatred for the prince in his anguish.

They stayed like that for a while, until Shuichi's sobs subsided and he ceased shaking. Yuki didn't let go, and continued to hold him to his chest, feeling that the torture of the last day had been worth it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Shuichi said, hiccupping and trying to move away from Yuki. Then, attempting to regain the serious mood of earlier, "I still don't like you."

"Are you alright?" Yuki asked, slightly concerned. He ignored Shuichi's comment and tightened his grip.

"I'm…fine." Shuichi gasped out, the tears threatening to return. Every time he looked at Eiri he could only see Yuki staring back at him. "You just…remind me of someone."

"Must have been quite a guy." Yuki said, trying his best not to smile or smirk. He heard K snort and Ryuichi giggle on the other end of the connection.

Shuichi's response never came, he was choking on his tears. He could only see Yuki. No one had ever understood him like Yuki had. No one had ever made him feel whole like Yuki had. He remembered everything he'd said, how it had felt to be in his arms. When he closed his eyes he could almost feel Yuki's lips on his. He opened his eyes and looked up; Eiri was still holding him.

Shuichi stared into his eyes and felt like his heart was breaking all over again.

Yuki could see the pain in Shuichi's eyes, and felt helpless. He didn't know how he could fix things, he didn't know how Shuichi would ever forgive him for his behavior, and he hadn't the slightest idea of how to stop his tears. He reached out a hand and stroked Shuichi's face, wiping away some of the tears. Shuichi stopped crying again and leaned forward as though searching for a long lost friend. Without giving it any thought, Yuki wrapped his arms around Shuichi, pulled him forward, and kissed him.

When Yuki broke the kiss, the last thing he expected was an angry Shuichi. Sure, he had expected some surprise at first, but then he would have explained everything. Instead, Shuichi pushed him away and staggered up.

"You lied to me!" Shuichi yelled, his eyes flashing. The instant Yuki had kissed him, he'd known the truth. "I thought you were dead!"

"Wha?" Yuki said, completely shocked that Shuichi had found him out without assistance.

"You bastard!"

"I'm sorry?" Yuki said in a questioning tone. He hadn't thought that Tohma would have told everyone he was dead. His disguise was only for fooling Tohma and giving him the right to court Shuichi.

"You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY?" Shuichi roared. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"Now might be a good time to run." K chimed in, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Shut it." Yuki said into the microphone. Unfortunately for him, K wasn't the only one that heard him.

"What did you say?" Shuichi hissed dangerously, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't tell me to shut it!"

"I didn't!" Yuki returned, putting up his hands in a defensive move. He didn't feel like dying just yet. "I didn't know I was dead either!"

"A likely story." Shuichi snarled, angry beyond belief. He'd been duped.

"I didn't know!" Yuki yelled back, getting frustrated. It made sense for Tohma to have spread that lie, to cover his tracks, but it almost seemed too intelligent a plan for the vizier. Yuki was beyond surprised, and a little impressed. "At least I'm not dead, right?"

"That's not-" Shuichi started to say, but then Yuki's words sunk in. Yuki was right; he wasn't dead. Shuichi closed his eyes and did some deep breathing to calm himself down. "You're right."

"I am?" Yuki asked, not bothering to hide the surprise in his voice. He had been steeling himself for a bloodbath.

"Yeah." Shuichi said, a smile starting to shine through. He walked over to where Yuki was still sitting and plopped down into his lap. "You're right."

Shuichi kissed him lightly, still smiling.

"Let's go inside." Yuki said, all traces of his sweet, debonair attitude gone. He pushed all the other thoughts out of his mind, and concentrated on getting right back to where he and Shuichi had left off the last time around.

"Hey! Keep the snake in its cage!" K said into the microphone, wanting to keep things clean for Ryuichi's sake.

"Alright." Shuichi responded slyly, the smile still on his face.

"He's just as bad as our prince…" K muttered.

Shuichi walked into his room, leaving Yuki alone on the balcony. Yuki cast a look over his shoulder and smirked, ripping the earpiece and microphone off and tossing them over the railing. He heard K's angry shout echo around the courtyard before he stepped into Shuichi's room.

"That little shit!" K yelled, stomping around the suite. "He threw out my equipment!"

"I'm sure it was an accident." Ryuichi said happily, arranging Kuma's pajamas. "Bed time!"

"I watched him throw them over the railing! It was no accident! I want to know what he's up to…" K said. "We can go to bed after I bug the kid's door."

"Okay." Ryuichi replied. He jogged out of the room and came back a few minutes later without Kuma. "Ready?"

"Where's Kuma?" K asked, pulling out the necessary electronics and headed for the door.

"I tucked him in, he was sleepy." Ryuichi responded as he slipped through the open door and shut it behind him.

"Alright, we need to be quiet to pull this off." K said, clapping a hand over Ryuichi's mouth just as the shorter of the two caught sight of a shiny statue.

Ryuichi nodded, and K removed his hand. They spent the next fifteen minutes in silence, and met no opposition. K pulled out his map of the palace and checked their location, uneager to meet the guards that had so soundly rebuffed Yuki.

"Stop here for a second…" K whispered, yanking Ryuichi towards the wall. "I need to see where we are."

"We're in the palace, K." Ryuichi whispered back, serious as ever.

"Thanks for the update." K replied, hunkering down over the map. Shuichi's room was around the corner from their current position. "Stay here for a bit, okay?"

"Yep yep!" Ryuichi said brightly, earning himself a warning 'shush!' from K.

K left Ryuichi flattened against the wall and crept around the corner, keeping his eyes and ears open for the guards. As he rounded the corner and crouched down behind the same vase Yuki had used for refuge, he could catch snippets of the conversation occurring directly in front of him.

"Come on, that prince isn't coming back, let's just turn in." said the guard on the left, yawning. "I've been up since sunrise."

"Not my problem. I'm not budging. The vizier ordered us to guard this door and I'm going to guard it." The guard on the right responded haughtily, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Have it your way, I'm leaving." Said the first guard, sighing and stomping off down the hallway. Luckily for K, he turned in the opposite direction of Ryuichi and vanished.

"Slacker…" the remaining guard said into the dark hallway, moving to stand in the middle of the hallway instead of off to the side.

K pondered the situation for a minute, trying to think of how to either scare or distract the guard. In the end, he decided for a more violent route. He stepped out from behind the vase and walked right up the guard, pulling out his gun.

"Hey! You're not authorized to be here!" The guard said, eyeing K's gun uncomfortably. "And what is that thing?"

"This, friend, is a firearm." K responded, smacking the guard on the side of the head with the gun. He caught him before he hit the floor and dragged him over to the large vase. With a mighty heave, he tossed the guard head first into the vase. Dusting his hands off on each other, he walked back to Ryuichi.

"We're good."

"Let's do this thing…" Ryuichi replied, doing a little jig in the hallway.

K was in the process of bugging the door when footsteps disrupted his progress. Ryuichi jumped behind K, and K again reached for his gun.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tatsuha asked, approaching K. "Isn't your suite on the other side of the palace?"

"It is, it is. I'm just…" K tried to answer, his mind blocked by the unplanned interruption. He let his hand fall from his gun grip.

"Please go back to your room, sir. We have a nine o'clock curfew here, and it's strictly enforced in this hallway." Tatsuha said, fingering his sword in case K got violent. His dark eyes watched K's gun.

"Alright." K said, not wanting to push the situation. He was sure that Yuki was up to no good, but he figured the guy deserved a break just this once. He already had plenty of material to tease him about anyway. "Let's go, Ryuichi."

"Ryuichi?" Tatsuha said, perking up instantly. Not only was he head over heels in love with the thief, but he'd been eager to recapture the man for other reasons. He'd told Tohma that Ryuichi had escaped, and so far the vizier seemed to have forgotten all about it, but Tatsuha figured it was better to tie up any loose ends. At the thought of tying Ryuichi up, his eyes glazed over and a little bit a drool escaped his mouth.

"Yeah, he's right here." K said, unaware that Ryuichi was currently listed as an escaped criminal. He grabbed Ryuichi and dragged him forward.

"Tatsuha!" Ryuichi squealed, remembering the fun they'd had last time they'd met and forgetting all about their feuds from the streets.

"My honey…" Tatsuha whispered, still drooling. Realizing how lucky he was to have Ryuichi fall back into his hands so easily, he brought himself out of his worshipping stupor and got serious. "Ahem…I'm afraid you'll have to come with me."

"Why?" K and Ryuichi said together.

"Because…we have to finish our game!" Tatsuha said, looking K directly in the eye and deciding that it was best not to mess with the man. He wanted to live to see the next sunrise.

"Yay!" Ryuichi said, bouncing over to Tatsuha. "Kuma can't play though, he's sleeping…"

"Aww…" Tatsuha said, throwing an arm around Ryuichi's shoulders and almost fainting in the process. "We'll have to tell him all about it tomorrow…"

With that, they disappeared down the hallway and left K standing alone by Shuichi's door.

"Wow." K said, shaking his head. Deciding to honor his decision about leaving Yuki alone, he walked back to the suite and turned in for the night. He had to be well-rested for the abuse that he was going to heap on Yuki in the morning after all.

"What was that?" Shuichi asked, having heard K's shout. He smiled at Yuki and walked up to him, throwing his arms around his neck.

"No idea." Yuki responded. The last person he wanted to think about right now was K. Shaking his head vigorously, he put his arms around Shuichi's waist and kissed his forehead.

"I'm glad you're not dead." Shuichi said, putting his head under Yuki's chin and closing his eyes.

"Me too." Yuki said, pulling Shuichi closer and resting his face on Shuichi's soft hair. Holding Shuichi seemed to jog his memory, and he thought back to when he'd arrived at the palace with the insane parade. "So that's why you called me a ghost."

"Hmm?" Shuichi questioned sleepily. Then he added, glancing nervously around his room, "Ghost?"

"When you saw me in the throne room. You called me a ghost." Yuki returned, staring down at Shuichi's confused face.

"Oh!" Shuichi said, relieved that his room wasn't being invaded by supernatural beings. "Tohma told me you were dead."

"Sorry to disappoint." Yuki said sarcastically. "I hope he'll forgive me."

"Don't worry about him, he's pretty much harmless." Shuichi said, having successfully warded off countless Tohma plans. "It's the bird you have to watch out for."

"I'll keep that in mind." Yuki said, lifting Shuichi slightly and kissing him again. He started to maneuver him towards the bed, tired of the chit chat and now focused on getting Shuichi into bed.

Shuichi broke apart from Yuki and flopped backwards onto his bed, happier than he'd been in years. Yuki followed, and sat down next to him, leaning against one of the tall bedposts. He watched Shuichi intently, part of him still convinced that this was too good to be true. Shuichi returned Yuki's glance for a few minutes before a sly look crept across his face.

"So why should I consider your candidacy?" Shuichi asked, adjusting invisible glasses and clearing his throat. He remained on his back, but studied Yuki's face with a skeptical look.

"What?" Yuki replied, a little taken aback. He definitely hadn't planned on this. He groaned quietly; he thought he'd cleared that fence.

"You heard me. Why should I consider you?" Shuichi asked again, trying to keep the smile out of his eyes. Yuki looked funny when he was panicking.

"Because…" Yuki started to say, not sure of what to say. He was starting to regret throwing out K's earpiece. He racked his brain for things that he knew Shuichi liked, but he hadn't known him long enough to have much of an idea. Shuichi reminded him a tiny bit of Ryuichi now that he'd spent more time with him, and he desperately grabbed a hold of this thought; it was all he had to go on. He thought of Ryuichi's favorite things: Kuma, candy, Kuma, and…the damned rug. "Because I have a flying carpet!"

Yuki half shouted his last sentence, internally pleased that he'd been able to come up with an answer at all. He could picture the rug's displeasure about Yuki saying it was his, but that didn't matter now.

"A flying carpet?! Where?" Said Shuichi excitedly, bolting up and looking around like a lunatic. "Where!?"

"Not here, it's…" Yuki tried to think of the best word. "Lethal."

"Aww…" Shuichi said, slightly disappointed. "Always wanted to fly on a rug."

"Really?" Yuki asked, not entirely sure if Shuichi was serious or not. It was hard to tell. "It'd be your last, trust me. That thing is haywire. Besides, I'm sure we can find something better to do…"

Yuki tried to run a hand up Shuichi's leg as he leaned in for a kiss, but Shuichi slapped it away and put a hand over Yuki's mouth.

"You still haven't given me a good reason." Shuichi said, his voice devoid of any joking qualities. He again had to fight the urge to smile, but he controlled himself. The look on Yuki's face was nigh priceless.

"Seriously?" Yuki replied, sighing. One look from Shuichi silenced him, however, and he went back to rummaging through his head for an appropriate response.

"Yeah." Shuichi said, starting to shake with the effort of containing his glee; it was so much fun to tease Yuki. He betrayed himself by smiling, however, and Yuki immediately caught on.

"Brat."

"Jerk face." Shuichi said, scooting closer to Yuki and kissing him again. He was done with childish games for the evening.

Yuki didn't respond, and instead returned Shuichi's kiss, pushing him back down onto the bed. He moved his lips down Shuichi's neck, pausing only to lean back and take his shirt off. Shuichi did the same, and pulled Yuki back down. Yuki responded enthusiastically, thinking to himself that this was going to be a phenomenal night.

Wooo! Feels good to finally be past this. I wrote 23 pages in almost one sitting, it was pretty darn intense. I had a lot of fun with chapter 14, but I'm super-stoked for the next part of the story. I'm going a little off of the beaten path as far as plot goes, but nothing major. Everything from the movie will be there, I'm just adding a few things and reworking some scenes to make them fit into my particular version. In other news, getting a netbook in a few days so I'll be completely mobile. I love my lappy, but he needs to go on a diet; too heavy to lug around campus and to Starbucks. Now, back to story talk...

I'm sorry if you were expecting a song, but I just couldn't bring myself to write Yuki singing…no. I thought this was more appropriate for him anyway, given his…tendencies. I'll leave the rest of the scene up to your imagination, have fun.

-Amaya