Treize woke the following morning to a bed that, once again, had only him in it, and to cooling sheets where the other man should have been. There were two possible reasons for that being the case: That Treize had slept in later than he should have and the pilot had simply gotten up at his usual time, or that – and a quick glance at the clock on the bedside table told him this was more likely the case – the younger man had experienced another nightmare and had abandoned sleep for the night.

It wasn't the start Treize had been hoping this day would get off to, but he couldn't bring himself to even pretend he was surprised. Sighing quietly, he slid from the warmth of the bed and readied himself for the day.

*****************************

Noin's expressive amethyst eyes caught his gaze as soon as his feet touched the bottom step, the look in them one of equal parts relief and near-panic, and served as his warning that he had been right about Zechs's reasons for leaving before his commander woke. He gestured her to come to his side so they could talk quietly, and cast the open doorway to the dining room a puzzled look.

"Lucrezia?" he asked, allowing his tone of voice to express all of the half a dozen questions running through his mind.

"I was about to come and wake you, sir. There's something wrong with…"

"Zechs – yes. I know. Tell me what's happening."

"I don't really know. I came downstairs this morning, and he was standing by the window, staring outside. He… wouldn't talk to me. It's almost as though he didn't know I was there."

Treize raised an eyebrow, turning his head to look quickly at the window and confirm that his friend wasn't still there. "And?"

"Une dragged him into the dining room and shoved coffee at him, but he's not drinking it and he isn't speaking to anyone." She caught her breath. "He's… frightening me, sir. I've never seen him like this!"

Treize smiled at her gently. "I have. He'll be fine in a little while, Lucrezia. Why don't you go and get his birthday present?"

He hadn't thought it would be that easy to get rid of her, and she didn't disappoint him. "I will, sir, but… what's wrong with him?"

He allowed the smile to take on the bitter edge it wanted to, and touched her on the shoulder lightly as he stepped past her. "The date, my dear." He could feel her eyes fixed on his spine as he crossed the room and paused in the doorway to the dining room, taking in all the clues he could and steeling himself.

Zechs was sitting with his back to the door, but the angle was oblique enough that the general could see the coffee cup that he was holding in shaking hands, the dead pallor of his skin and the blank look in the eyes that were fixed on some point in space. Lady Une was in the chair opposite the pilot, her own cup clearly being ignored as she watched her companion closely, a startling degree of concern in her soft brown eyes. Treize would have had to be blind to have missed the tension between his aide and his lover, but he wasn't surprised to see her there. The woman she was underneath the so-efficient soldier would no more leave her worst enemy to suffer if she could avoid it, than her closest friend.

His movement as he took his first step into the room itself caught her attention and she came to her feet, meeting him a few paces from the table.

"Did Noin wake you?" she asked.

"She didn't have to – I met her at the bottom of the stairs. Has he actually drunk any of that coffee?"

She shook her head. "Not a drop. It's taken me all my time to get him to sit down in here before he gave himself pneumonia. You might have more luck," she added, shrugging.

"I imagine I will," he agreed. He pulled his eyes from the still figure of his friend and looked down at his aide, smiling at her. "Thank you, Lady."

"You're welcome, sir," she replied quietly. She dropped her gaze suddenly. "Does he always react this way?"

Treize raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Her head lifted again, and he could read the answer to the question he hadn't asked in her eyes. She knew more, far more, than she would ever admit to knowing.

"To his… birthday?"

Treize shook his head. "Not for quite a few years, but things have been… difficult recently. He'll be fine in a little while, I'm sure."

"So am I."

They smiled at each other, and Treize was once again caught by the idea that this woman would have made him an excellent wife, in other circumstances. With less than half the information Noin had, she had put the truth together, and acted on it perfectly. "Thank you, Une," he murmured, letting her read the weight of his feelings in his eyes before letting her pass him. A moment later, he heard her voice and Noin's blend as they began to talk and he focused his attention back on the younger man in front of him.

Quietly, he took the chair that Une had left and ran his eyes over his friend properly.

Keeping his voice low, he tried to draw some attention from the pilot. "Zechs?" he called.

There was no response, and he repeated himself several times before switching tactics. "Milliardo, talk to me."

Something flickered in the eyes locked onto the invisible horizon.

"Milliardo, you need to talk to me."

Wire-tight tension suddenly drained from the pilot's body, and only Treize's fast reactions kept the coffee cup from falling to the floor and shattering, spilling its contents everywhere. "That's better. Look at me, Milliardo."

The husky-pale gaze locked onto his own, and the general set the mug aside on the table, reached out and caught the younger man's hands within his own, pressing down hard.

"Treize?"

"Good morning, my friend. Are you back with us, now?"

Zechs shook his head, blinking at his surroundings. "I…" He hesitated. "I think so."

"Good." Treize let the other man's hands go and sat back, raising an eyebrow. "I'd ask what just happened, but I know. Do I assume yesterday's conversation about your dreams also applies to this? I haven't known you react like this since you were eight."

Zechs flushed hotly, and Treize had to wait in silnec for almost a full five minutes before the younger man nodded his agreement.

When Zechs did respond, Treize sighed. "You'll need to explain to Noin what just happened – she's worried about you," he said.

"I will."

Treize passed back the coffee cup he had caught and watched whilst the pilot sipped at the cooling liquid, wincing at the bitter taste. "One more question, my friend, before I let this go completely."

"Go on."

"You said the nightmares have been back for some time now – have you lost awareness like this other than this morning?"

The general had asked his question in the same easy, neutral tone he'd employed since he sat down, but the speed at which Zechs brought his head up from staring into his mug, and the hard edge to his gaze, warned the older man that he was completely aware of the implications.

"Not since I was a child," Zechs answered, and his eyes were clear of any attempt to deceive.

Treize let the subtle tension in his muscles fade away as he smiled warmly. "Excellent. I need you as a pilot, my friend, but I would have had to ground you if…"

Zechs returned his smile, suddenly looking like his normal self rather than the pale-edged, slightly withdrawn ghost he'd been. "Treize," he murmured, and the single word was enough to convey his understanding that the general couldn't risk having an officer on active duty who could lose his grip on the world around him in the middle of a battle.

One distinctive eyebrow rose again, and then the older man nodded to himself and stood up. "Now," he began. "I am, both militarily and socially, the senior in rank here so I am declaring that none of this ever happened, and you are going to agree Milliardo."

Deep-set eyes met lighter ones as the younger man caught a sudden laugh in his throat. "I'll agree, but…" There was a hint of mischief in his voice. "…technically, if you're insisting on calling me Milliardo, and not Zechs, then, socially speaking, I outrank you!"

Surprise flashed over the older man's finely drawn features, and Zechs wasn't sure if it had been caused by the truth of his words, or by the nature of how he'd said them, or by a combination of both. Most likely the latter, he decided, as Treize seemed to still in place for a moment before clearly changing whatever he had been about to do.

Quietly, the general stood and looked at him for a minute, and then he leaned over and kissed him, hard and fleeting, before turning on his heels and heading for the door. "Go into the lounge," he instructed as he moved. "I'll join you in a moment."

Zechs watched him go, puzzled, feeling his lips sting from the kiss, and then shrugged to himself and got to his feet to obey.

**************************

Zechs entered the lounge to find two pairs of eyes watching him, one brown – a trace of concern hidden behind cool composure – and one violet. There was outright worry, a hint of panic, in that set of eyes and the pilot acknowledged to himself that his behaviour might have been just cause. He paused in his crossing of the room to Noin's side only long enough to grant Lady Une a nod of thanks for her earlier help, and to see her return it with a near smile as she stood to leave him alone with the younger woman.

The amethyst gaze, rendered crystalline by a film of unshed tears, locked onto his face as he came to stand next to her by the window she had found him staring out of an hour before. She opened her mouth to speak, doubtless to demand answers for what had happened, and he stopped her mid-word by slipping one arm around her shoulder and drawing her to him.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, and felt her breathing hitch with her surprise. "I never intended to do that to you."

"Zechs…" Her arms slid round his waist and gripped as she leaned forward enough to press her face into his jumper. For a moment, he thought she was crying, and he bit his lip as he tried frantically to think of something to calm her, but then she leaned back and he saw that she was dry eyed. "What was that?" she continued.

Zechs glanced away, over her head. "Memories, Noin. Memories of Sanc, of what happened to her, and to my family. They aren't… pleasant."

"The Alliance attack?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Oh, Zechs…"

"I'm alright now, I promise." He tightened his hold on her as he spoke, and felt her respond in kind and was grateful for it. She was warm and soft in his arms, a comforting barrier against any further onslaught of his past.

Noin, though being held the way she was delighted her, wondered what had prompted it. Shouldn't Zechs be clinging to Treize if he felt the need for physical reassurance? "Zechs – I don't understand…."

He shook his head with a sad smile. "I was… very young when Sanc fell. Just six years old… The attack itself was horrible – I saw my nurse killed, my home, my toys, burn. My father was shot, my mother…" he broke off and swallowed. "You've studied it, you know what happened. The memories aren't… clear… when I'm awake. They're blurred, distanced, not quite real. The Khushrenada's doctor said it was a natural defence mechanism or some such. I was too young for my mind to cope with what I lived through." He shrugged. "He was probably right – I was just six. When I was younger I used to slip away like that – a waking dream, of sorts. I remember completely, everything, as I do in my nightmares, as though I were living through it again." He smiled at her, though it was strained around the edges. "It hasn't happened for years now, and I don't imagine it will again in the near future. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"I don't care about that!" she snapped, and then shook her head, looking immediately sad again. "Oh, Zechs, what a terrible start to your birthday."

The pilot let his classmate go and took a step or two away. "I don't mind. I don't much like my birthdays anyway."

"I know – you never have. I remember you telling me so at the Academy. You never did explain why." Noin smiled as she spoke, hoping to change the subject away from something that so obviously bothered him.

Zechs turned his head to look at her again, and his expression was nothing short of stunned. "I…"

"Lucrezia, didn't you tell Zechs that you had studied the Fall of Sanc?"

Noin turned from her friend to see her commanding officer standing in the doorframe looking back at her. "Yes, sir… but I don't…"

Treize stepped into the room, making his way across it until he could touch the younger man. As he passed her, he paused to murmur. "What date did the Alliance attack Sanc?"

Noin stared after him, thinking furiously, watching as he offered the blond a smile.

"Happy Birthday, my love – and don't tell me you hate your birthday. I know you do, and you have good reason." He closed the space separating them and drew the younger man into his arms, speaking quietly into his ear. "But, after twelve years, I'm determined to give you new memories for your birthday… if you'll let me, later?"

Zechs nodded, flushing as he realised what his friend meant.

Across the room, Noin went suddenly pale. "Oh, my God… I hadn't… I hadn't realised! The twenty-third of January! The Alliance attacked Sanc on…" She stopped and looked at him, eyes filling with tears when he nodded at her slowly. "Oh, no… 'just six'… it was your birthday… They destroyed Sanc on your birthday!"