The sky had started to grow darker as he walked through the wood. Normally, he would have paid no heed to this; he had traveled this path many times in the day and was confident he could navigate it during the night. But there was something strange about this darkness: it had an unnatural coldness to it…something similar to what he thought the clutches of death would feel. It caused a shiver to run up his spine.

Needless, his mission was much more important than his thoughts of the growing darkness; he was to deliver a message to the head of his clan. Quickly and silently he made his way along, following a path only he knew, making sure to avoid any open areas. He was a messenger…in these times more often than not, a messenger never made it to his destination. It was a time for war.

Though he had tried his best to avoid any clearings, it seemed his bearings had fallen astray and he slowed to a walk when he entered an all-to-familiar clearing. It was in this clearing that he had seen the advent of the war. At the time, it seemed a bloody battleground with the dead littered about, but now it seemed to flow with the serene darkness that permeated him. It felt dead.

He slowly made his way to a cliff that separated the field and the earth below. Standing on the edge of the cliff, he could sense the growing war…he could feel the agony to come for both sides, and he felt remorse for those that wouldn't live to see the end of it. It went against his better judgment to stand there in the open; he knew that there could be enemies nearby waiting for their chance to pounce, but he couldn't seem to tear himself away from the cliff side.

Here, on the edge of this cliff, there was wind…there was life. Slowly he lowered the hood of his black garment, showing his dark brown hair for the world to see. Here, he made his mistake. He felt the sword enter his spine and exit through the front of his ribcage. Part of him wanted to scream from the pain and another part wanted to turn to see his attacker. But more than any of them, there was a side that wanted to look forward.

He no longer cared who his killer was, all he knew was the darkness he had felt before was wrong. It was true that there was a coldness in death, but there was also a warmth…and he couldn't help but smile as he fell forward. He plummeted to the ground…and even the wisest men couldn't deny the wisdom that death had brought him. He was finally freed from the agony caused by his life and he no longer had to kill others for the sake of territory. As he fell faster and faster, he smiled, not because he was finally accepting his fate, but because he had been pushed from that valley of the dead, and was now speeding towards the life below.

If one had been beside him, falling to the forest below, they would have heard his final words, his final offerings of peace; a moment before his life was extinguished, he managed to whisper his final praise: "I can feel the wind…"

--

"I see…" the cloaked mage stated to himself more than anyone else, "So my son has met his end…"



"Tryval was a fine mage, sire, and an even finer man…I'm sorry for your loss…" a man covered in black consoled.

"It was...them…I suppose, wasn't it?"

"While the wound he had sustained would have eventually killed him…he died by another means."

The older mage glanced at the messenger curiously.

"He plummeted to his death, sire…"

The older mage stared intently at the scroll the messenger had given him, describing the details of his son's passing. It was obvious that the man was torn on the inside…torn between tears for his fallen son and praise for him. His son no longer had to kill: he was free.

The mage pulled the hood on his cloak back to reveal his features. He had long gray hair, as was common by many in his position, and had a long silky beard. His eyes shone with fresh tears, but even more than that, they shined with pride for his son.

"Surely," the elder mage stated in almost a whisper, "surely he is in a better place now…a place where he cannot be judged by his humanity…but by his actions."

The messenger looked at the man with slight admiration in his eyes…even throughout all the bloodshed, the clad elder, the man before him, held onto his beliefs and ideals…he held on to his hope for the future.

The elder looked at the messenger with fresh tears streaming down his cheeks, "I'm sure he's in a place where he can live peacefully…I have no doubt that heaven's gates will have opened for him."

The mage then placed his arm on the messenger's shoulder and looked him seriously in the eyes, "In this world…your life matters. No matter how this war ends, you must survive!" Here the man took his arm off the messenger's shoulder, "All of you must survive!"

The messenger then gave a deep bow to the mage and turned about. When he took his leave, he couldn't help but feel cold.

"This world…" the man looked to the darkened skies, "It feels like it's already been taken by death."

--

Negi slowly began his walk to Kotaro's side; it was night now, and the battle that had taken Kotaro's sight was now only a bad memory. Negi paused a few paces from Kotaro…he still wasn't sure what they were going to talk about…or if they would speak at all. Right now all he knew was that Kotaro had a lot on his mind…and so did he.

Negi looked to the night sky and the thousands of stars that littered it. Back in their own time, many of these stars would never have been seen. Now though, the sky was alight with stars. Negi couldn't help 

but feel a solemn embrace from the stars...before now, when he looked up to the night sky, all he could really do was name constellations and pick out the brightest stars. Sometimes he even tried to count them…that never ended very well. But as he stared into the sky, he couldn't point out a single star formation. Now as he looked at the night sky, he felt the embrace of the world itself.

"What's on your mind, Negi?" Kotaro asked, not even looking back.

The wind blew a cold gust over the two and Negi was forced back to the earth; he looked forward at Kotaro. He was sitting there with his arms draped across his knees…the position he always took when he was in deep thought. The wind forced both his clothes and Negi's cloak to flutter with the wind; had anyone been there to witness the scene, they would have stood in awe of the two. Kotaro slowly rose to his feet and turned to face Negi. The two shared an uncomfortable silence as they looked the other over.

Kotaro stood at the same height as Negi, and even had the same build, but when one would watch the two, their auras felt very different. While Negi's brought forth feelings of justice and truth, Kotaro's was filled with desire and strength. The two complimented each other perfectly.

But now when Negi looked Kotaro over, he didn't feel the powerful aura his rival held. Instead he felt something different…it was as if Kotaro had lost his desire to fight…but it was replaced by something else…a desire to understand.

Negi was forced to look Kotaro in the eyes…and couldn't help but feel a sting of pain as he looked into his right. Negi doubted Kotaro'd ever regain his sight in that eye…if he did, it would only be blurry images at best. It was obvious to Negi what Kotaro was feeling right now. Not only was he forced to use a pactio card with Yue, but he had been badly wounded. To Kotaro, a person whom strength meant everything to, being wounded as he was…was almost as bad as losing.

Negi walked over to Kotaro's side and sat down; Kotaro followed in unison. The two had spent half of their lives together and fought beside each other just as long…they knew each other well enough not to need words. But here, in Kotaro's time of need, Negi couldn't stay silent.

"You should let Konoka treat your wound…" the red-haired mage stated quietly.

"It's useless…I'm not going to get my vision back and you know it," the dog-demon replied bluntly.

"Konoka's powerful…you may be able to regain some of your vision…"

There was a moment of silence.

"I could have gotten us all killed…" Kotaro dared to say.

Negi looked at Kotaro with a surprised expression on his face.

"Had Yue not sacrificed her pactio with you…we may have not made it out of there…" the man finished.



Negi fought to find the words to tell him how he was wrong. After everything the group had gone through, Kotaro still blamed himself for everything wrong that had happened.

"You know better than that," Negi replied bluntly, "You…"

Negi didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. A figure that had appeared out of nowhere smacked Kotaro upside the head with their weapon.

Kotaro recovered quickly and jumped to his feet, only to turn his head and be face to face with Yue.

"You idiot!" she screamed, "You know better than that!"

Kotaro was stunned…both by Yue's overly emotional response to Kotaro's way of thinking and to her ability to sneak up on him.

"How do you think I feel, Kotaro?!" Yue screamed at him.

Tears started flowing from her eyes and she started pounding on his chest.

"How do you think it feels to know that the person you care about the most needed you…and all you could do for them when they were horribly injured was give them minor support?! How do you think it felt to watch that happen to you…to know that you're permanently blinded in one of your eyes and I was right beside you fighting? …To know that had I swung my weapon in just a slightly bigger arch…it wouldn't have happened?"

Kotaro was flummoxed. He wasn't overly concerned about his well-being…his eye may not have been replaceable, but he could still fight without it. The only things he was worried about…that he was so distraught over…were the fact that he let himself get injured and was a burden. He had no idea that his getting injured had hurt Yue so badly.

"Yue…it's all right…" Kotaro consoled in a quiet voice.

The girl continued to sob in his arms.

"It's all right my love…"

Negi had gone; the only two left standing in the field were Kotaro and Yue. The young woman continued sobbing in her lover's arms…and he continued to hold her tightly. It was beyond a doubt obvious to Kotaro now…his failure to detect the blow that left him blind wasn't such a big deal anymore…what mattered was that he protected everyone around him…his companions…his rival…and Yue: his love.

Negi awoke early the next morning and made his way to the center of the camp. With a few whispered words, the firewood they had set up last night lit back up, anew, and the food they had gathered was set up to roast. Negi looked around the camp: it was small, and the make-shift adirondacks were all occupied. Nodoka slept silently beside where Negi had been and the others seemed to be sleeping as 

soundly. It had been a long time since they had the opportunity to sleep so well, but then, they knew now that they were in neutral territory.

Even so, there had been a night watch set up, though the previous night had been limited to one person. The one person they all knew would be able to detect any presence. The next thing Negi knew, Kotaro stood up from beside his and Yue's adirondack and walked over to assist him in preparing breakfast.

"I trust your night was well," Negi asked Kotaro.

"It was…I managed to catch some rabbits that were wandering near the camp, so dinner for tonight has already been caught," Kotaro replied.

Negi looked back at the fire and glanced over to Kotaro every so often. He seemed to have changed greatly from the night before and, while Negi had his suspicions as to why, he couldn't help but wonder how 'good' his night really was. After all, his and Yue's hair were both rather messy. Negi just smirked.

"What was that for?" Kotaro was quick to ask.

"Nothing!" Negi replied.

Kotaro looked back at Negi slightly confused and then turned his head to Yue. He noticed her hair was slightly messed up from the previous night and reached his hand up to pat his down. That's when it hit him. He turned his head back to Negi abruptly and looked directly in his eyes. He knew!

Negi couldn't help but stare at Kotaro as his face went from a tanned white to a beet red. He lifted his finger to Kotaro, trying to keep his composure…but failed miserably. He burst out laughing and an overly embarrassed Kotaro hit him upside the head.

"It's not what you're thinking!" he practically yelled.

"Oh yes it is!" Negi replied, trying to stop laughing and holding his head from the headache Kotaro had caused.

"No it's not…I…I…" Kotaro blushed even worse.

All the commotion brought Yue from her wonderful dreams back to reality. As she rose from her bed and reached for her shirt, she heard Negi yell out, "It's all right; I've done it too! It's nothing to be embarrassed over!" And she was forced to look over to the two to see what all the commotion was about. What she saw was a Kotaro that was an unnatural shade of red and Negi that was laughing at him.

Negi saw Yue rise and, in his hilarious stupor, he pointed at her and yelled out, "Hey, nice hair! It's as bad as Kotaro's!" Yue looked over to Kotaro, who was still blushing furiously and realized what Negi was talking about. She too turned a shade of bright red…but unlike Kotaro, she wasn't one to just take the embarrassment…a well aimed staff and…bam!

Negi woke up an hour later.



"You know, it's nothing to be embarrassed about…" Negi consoled to his best friend and rival.

"Embarrassed about it or not, my face'll still turn red," he replied, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

He was now sitting beside Yue and Negi was sitting beside Nodoka, who had woken up only a few minutes after he regained consciousness.

"I was only laughing because of how red your face was…"

"Yes well, you were mentioning something about my hair?" Yue replied, a little irritated.

Negi looked over at Yue with a bit of curiosity.

"Guess you didn't want me to mention yours, huh?" she replied a little devilishly, "And Nodoka, why is yours all ruffed?"

Negi and Nodoka both turned red…and Kotaro and Yue both burst out laughing.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Kotaro jested back at Negi.

Negi and Nodoka just turned their heads to face each other and smiled.

"What's with all this racket?" Setsuna asked, walking to join the group.

"My, my, your hair's looking rather ruffed up too," Chamo responded from Negi's shoulder.

"When did you wake up Chamo?" Negi asked.

"Just a few minutes ago…enough to hear you four talking about this messing each other's hair up issue…" the ermine replied pervertedly, "So…nice hair Setsuna-ne-chan!"

The ermine was immediately knocked from Negi's shoulder with a rock.

"Why my hair's messed up doesn't matter…" she began to say, but was quickly interrupted by Konoka.

"Set-chan, your hair's still a mess!" she yelled, knocking her back with her body weight, "I guess I ruffed it up too much last night, huh?"

Setsuna got a slightly horrified look on her face when she saw all the perverted looks she was getting from her comrades.

"It's…It's not what you think…" she began to say, but she looked down to Konoka and noticed that she was only wearing her underwear and a short shirt and turned a bright red again.

"Give up…" Asuna stated, taking her place at the fire, her hair unnaturally well placed on her head, "I think the evidence just smacked you in the face."

Setsuna just bowed her head and turned her gaze to Konoka who abruptly kissed her. Just as she was about to protest, Chamo ran up to her and formed a circle.



"Pactio!" was all the group could hear before they were blinded by a brilliant light.

Konoka broke away from the kiss and buried her face in Setsuna's chest squealing, "Set-chan!"

"Why do you keep doing those pactios every time one of us kisses another?" Negi asked Chamo.

"Because when we get back…I'm going to make a fortune off of them!" the ermine yelled with dollar signs in his eyes.

"The worse part of it all…" Setsuna replied still overly red in the face, "Was that Konoka and I actually didn't do anything last night! We just slept in the same bed was all! She got a little tipsy off of some of the wine we packed in our supplies and passed out in my bed."

The group looked at her with more than a little suspicion in their eyes and burst out laughing.

"It's alright, Setsuna," Asuna responded, trying to catch her breath, "We don't care…it's about time you two got together!"

"But we didn't…" Setsuna began…but she gave up when they all started laughing again, "Never mind…come on Konoka…let's get you dressed…"