Title: "Fire and Signs" Chapter 7.

Author: too_beauty

Feedback: yes, please any kind of them will help me to improve my writing or leave it forever.

Pairing: Alexander & Hephaestion. Kronos and Athina were born from my imagination and I really loved creating them.

Rating: PG.

Category: Historical AU so some personages will appear to serve the purpose of this story. *TAIS was Ptolemy's hetaera and it is said to be the one that initiated the fire at Persepolis ´palace.

Disclaimer: I don't know the people involved; A&H belonged to themselves and to History, if not Hephaestion would be still among us, living under my "protection".

No beta so all mistakes are mine.

The banquet began as any other, all the guests gathered in the Throne room with their presents, ready to give them to the Macedonian Prince; but the Prince was nowhere, several pages were looking for him but they were clueless, every spot they searched was deserted but none of them dared to go back and tell the King that the Prince was missing.

In the furthest garden of the palace, where once they met, Prince and Builder were sat under the apple tree, on a patch of green grass and surrounded by rose bushes, reading from a very ancient scroll, well the Prince was reading while his friend was laying next to him with his eyes closed but his lips were mouthing every single word of the Patroclea where Achilles wept about his beloved Patroclus´s death by Hector's hand.

When the Prince's voice faded away, the builder released a low sigh and a single tear rolled along his cheek. Alexander caught the tear with his index finger and rolled his friend onto his chest, with his head nestled over his heart and drawing soothing circles on his back.

- "Calm down, Hephaestion, they are together in the Elysian" Alexander whispered to his friend.

Hephaestion lifted his eyes and a sad smile touched his lips and after a moment, he returned his face onto Alexander's chest, rubbing it with his cheek. Alexander was still caressing his back when they heard heavy footsteps.

"There you are! Come back to the Palace, Alexander, or your father will flog you, no matter what day is today" said an angry Cleitus.

Both youths stood up, dusted their clothes and went back to the palace running, followed by the elder General who was looking at them with a tiny smile in his lips.

They were having a nice moment, the prince got many presents, most of them were expensive but he only treasured one, the most modest, the only one which had been made especially for him; it was Hephaestion's, the young man had built a mini Palace in stone with some small statues in the garden and wall with a carving of Achilles and Patroclus.

Alexander couldn't take his eyes of his present or his friend, he had been so close to kiss him today in the garden and he knew that it would be tonight, yes or yes, when he confessed his love again but this time Hephaestion would not be able to reject him because the Prince had seen more than friendship in his friend's blue eyes, he had seen "love" and he was sure that this time he wouldn't be only him wishing for a kiss.

The entertainments were wonderful but the prince just wanted to find a moment for his declaration of love. They were sitting together, prince and builder, sharing a couch and a plate with food; looks came and went, from blue to brown eyes and slightly blushed cheeks could also be seen in these two youths, oblivious to the rest of the people present in the room.

Gathering strength and courage, the young Prince stood up and offered his hand to the brunette, Hephaestion looked at him, showing confusion in his cerulean eyes and Alexander whispered "Come with me, I need a word with you, in private"

Alexander led him to the same balcony where many months ago they re started their relationship, after those horrible months apart, after the offending slap. The prince took Hephaestion's hands in his and spoke softly:

"My dear friend, I don't know what I am really doing but I can't silence my feelings anymore; I care for you very much, you are an excellent friend and you have always been there for me, but since the first time I saw you, I knew that I had found my soul mate, that "only one" I wanted to share the rest of my life with. I tried to deny my feelings because I know about your girlfriend but it is impossible and every time it gets worse and more difficult to hide. I don't want to embarrass you or make you change your mind about your feelings towards her but I have to be sincere with you and tell that I will always love you and that if, by any chance, your feelings are the same as mine in any moment of your life, I will be here, waiting for you.

Well, that was what I needed to say and now, that I have made myself a fool, I'd take my leave with your permission." Said Alexander sighing and feeling how a very heavy weight disappeared from his heart.

Alexander was about to open the curtain that led to the room when he felt a strong and warm hand in his back, between his shoulder blades. He turned round and saw Hephaestion looking into his eyes, the taller boy caught his head between his hands and mouthed "I love you too".

Alexander couldn't believe his eyes; his handsome Phai had mouthed those four words and made him the happiest man on earth. He cupped his face and brushed his lips with his and pulled back. Hephaestion touched his lips with the fingertips and his cheeks went rosy; he outstretched his hand and his right thumb caressed Alexander's bottom lip while his left hand rested on his nape. The Prince understood the signs quite quickly and kissed the builder's lips once more, pressing a bit harder and asking permission for entrance. The kiss deepened and both youths kissed with fruition till the lack of oxygen was big and little white lights appeared in front of their eyes.

Both young men regained their breath and hugged each other while their foreheads rested one against the other. Alexander took Hephaestion's hand and guided him back to the room. They were on their way to the couch when Cassander suggested taking the party to another place, full of women, fun and wine.

The handsome companion had seen how intimate the prince and builder had become and decided to put an end to it.

In the outskirts of the city, there was a very well known brothel with clean and nice women and boys, the wine was excellent and the music was good. They arrived there and Cassander went directly to ask for several jars of red wine, some sweet treats and asked the woman in charge to bring their best women to the table. He also gave the woman some extra coins to make one of the woman be dedicated to Alexander's needs, of course without revealing his real identity, so in that way he was going to force a rift between the new lovers-to be.

The hetaera was called Tais*, she was very beautiful, her manners were nice and she had a nice talking, she sat directly on Alexander's lap because he was the birthday boy and she tried to kiss and get closer to him. Alexander rejected her very gently and looked at Hephaestion with a sheepish expression in his dark eyes. Tais couldn't fail to notice the looks between the golden youth and the brunette and she knew that the golden's heart was already taken. She decided to enjoy the night with another of the companions there. The party went a bit wild and Tais suggested dancing in the back room of the brothel called the "Silk room" because its walls were covered with this fine material.

Cassander was not happy, his move had been unsuccessful and those two were together, talking to each other, avoiding the rest of the friends. Some more female dancers appeared and they started their dance, which was getting extremely sensual, their bodies were covered by very tiny outfits and their skin was brilliant due to the make-up applied onto it. Most of the companions were already drunk and some were getting really excited, looking at the dancers and their sexy movements.

In the middle of the dance, chaos started; one of the dancers tripped onto a hanging torch, filled with oil, it crashed against one of the walls and it got fire. The flames spread all over the other walls very quickly, the ceiling caught fire and the wood in it started to burn and became rather unstable. The people got crazy but as they were very drunk they couldn't made their way out. Alexander saw one of the dancers trapped with a long silk cloth and ran to help her, he freed her but in that moment one of the poles that were part of the ceiling started to fall. Hephaestion saw this from the other side of the room and being extremely anxious, he shouted: "ALEXANDER, THE CEILING POLE" and he started to run and pushed the prince out of its way, but he got caught under it and two more poles that fell after the first one. Alexander ran to his side but flames were extremely high and he couldn't get to him in time. The fire spread all over the place and Alexander was taken away by Ptolemy while the prince cried and shouted for his fallen friend.

The first fire took Hephaestion's family and voice away but he met his beloved.

The second fire gave Hephaestion's voice back but it took his life and his beloved's heart.