Hola peoples! And welcome to chapter 4 of "Strength"!! YES!!! *lets loose incredibly loud fangirl squeal*

NinthFeather: Oww...thank you for the ruptured eardrum I now have.

Me: Oh, NinthFeather. I forgot you were there!

NinthFeather:...You know, if you're just going to forget that I'm even here, why don't you just let me leave?

Me: See, I could do that, but it would conflict with my sadistic nature. So I'm not going to! ^-^

NinthFeather: *grumbles* Fine, but you are so going into my Tsubasa RC character interaction. And you're going to fight with Kurogane.

Me: Cool!!

NinthFeather: I didn't say you'd win the fight

Me: O.O Not cool!!!

NinthFeather: Yeah, well, neither is forcing your non-Shounen-ai fangirl friend to introduce your Saint Beast fanfic.

Me: But, but... *gives NinthFeather big Bambi eyes*

NinthFeather: You know that doesn't...*sigh* ok, so that always works on me...fine, you can win the fight with Kurogane.

Me: YAY!! Victory for Neko-chan!!

NinthFeather: -.-' I am such a push-over.

Me: Yes you are. But I love you for it!

NinthFeather:...Just shut up and get on with your fic.

Me: Ok!! ^-^

Warning: There is LOTS of bishie x bishie romance in this chapter, so if you don't like--

NinthFeather: RUN!!!

Disclaimer: I still don't own the bishies, and this hurts me deeply.

NinthFeather: You'll get over it.

Me: No I won't!!! T.T

********

When Ruka had completely pulled himself out of Rei's consciousness, he looked down and met Rei's anxious gaze. Gently Ruka took his hand away from Rei's face, but instead of pulling away from him altogether as Rei feared, Ruka wrapped his arm around Rei's bare waist, pulling the smaller angel flush against his chest, his other hand burying itself in Rei's silky hair.

"Rei, that will never happen," the older angel said softly, embracing the other tightly. "I will never, never abandon you. I could no sooner cut you out of my life than I could cut off my own wings. You're a part of me, Rei. I don't know when it happened, I don't know how it happened. And quite frankly, I don't care."

Ruka pulled back to look the blushing angel in the face, "And I have never, nor will I ever, see you as sullied or worthless," he said, gently stroking Rei's cheek with the back of his hand. "On the contrary, you are more breathtakingly beautiful than any of the treasures Heaven or Earth has to offer, and infinitely more precious."

Rei sighed and leaned his head against Ruka's shoulder, allowing the older angel to wrap his other arm around his slender waist in order to pull the small angel even closer. "Thank you. Ruka. I don't know how I could have possibly gotten through this without you. You're always there for me."

Ruka didn't say anything, and just tightened his hold on the lithe angel in his arms. No, I haven't always been there for you, Rei, he thought to himself, his hands lightly tracing the scars that criss-crossed across Rei's back. In fact, when you needed me the most, I completely failed you. If he had only gone after Rei that day when he'd flown off on his own, or if he'd thought to go look for him sooner, then maybe his angel wouldn't have gone through such pain, and maybe he wouldn't still be suffering now.

Concerned by Ruka's silence, Rei pulled back to look Ruka in the face. All it took was one glance, and he immediately knew all that was going through Ruka's mind. While Rei may not have been able to know another's thoughts with a single touch, he knew Ruka. Every thought. Every expression. Every emotion. He knew them all. And so Rei knew that at that moment, he wasn't the only one who was in pain.

Using a boldness he did not know he had, Rei reached up and gently took Ruka's face in his hands, forcing the surprised angel to look down at him. "Ruka, listen to me," the smaller angel said sternly. "What happened to me is no more your fault than it is mine. Do you hear me? It is not. Your. Fault."

Ruka looked taken aback for a moment at Rei's unexpected outburst, but then he sighed sadly. "Rei, you don't understand. I should have been there. I should have protected you. I'm always telling you how much you mean to me, and how much I love you, and yet I couldn't even be there when you needed me the most." Ruka let his arms fall away from Rei and turned his head away, fighting the stinging sensation that was building behind his eyes.

Rei knew he should feel happy about how deeply Ruka cared for him, however, even though his heart went out to his hurting love, Rei could not help but feel a surge of anger at Ruka's words.

Rei took a couple steps back from the taller angel, clenching his fists under the water. "Ruka, the more fault you take upon yourself, the more you make it clear that I am truly the one to blame."

Ruka's head snapped back to Rei, a stunned expression on his face. "Rei, what—,"

"Think about it, Ruka! I am as much a member of the Saint Beasts as you and the others, so I shouldn't need you to protect me! I should have been able to fight Stheno off on my own! I shouldn't have let him..." Rei trailed off, trying very hard to suppress the unpleasant memories his words had brought to the surface.

"Ruka, you can't take all that happened to me upon yourself," Rei said when he finally continued, his voice shaking and his eyes shining with unshed tears. "If you truly believe that what happened was not my fault, then believe me when I say that it was not your fault either. So please," Rei said as the tears started running down his cheeks, "Please stop blaming yourself! You always say you can't stand to see me in pain. Well, I can't stand to see you in pain either! And I...I can live with the pain of what Stheno did to me, but knowing that what he did is causing you to suffer as well...I-I can't handle that...it hurts...too much..." Rei stopped, his tears keeping him from saying any more.

Ruka quickly closed the space between them and once again took the crying angel into his arms. "Rei...Rei, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said, his voice clouded with emotion as he held the trembling angel tightly against him, gently stroking his violet hair. "I didn't mean to cause you so much pain. You're right. Of course you're right. I was being foolish. I'm so sorry."

Ruka continued stroking Rei's hair and whispering soothing words to him until the smaller angel calmed down. When he finally stopped crying Rei blushed and looked up at Ruka sheepishly, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that..."

Ruka smiled and tenderly brushed a lingering tear off the blushing angel's face. "You never need to apologize for crying in front of me. You know that."

Rei smiled as well, snuggling closer to Ruka's warmth, "Thank you, Ruka. I-I love you."

Ruka smiled widened at the nervous stutter in Rei's voice. Even after all this time, he's still so adorable, he thought. "I love you, too, Rei." More than you could ever imagine.

They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each others presence, until Rei suddenly shivered. Ruka pulled away slightly to look down at the delicate angel, suddenly becoming very aware of his current state of undress. "Rei, are you cold? Maybe we should head back inside," Then the taller angel smirked and bent down to whisper in Rei's ear, "Or, if you like, I could warm you up right here..."

Rei blushed a deep crimson and shivered again, though this time it had nothing to do with the cold. He too was suddenly very much aware of his current lack of clothing. "R-Ruka...I-I think we should—,"

But whatever Rei had been planning on saying was quickly wiped from his mind as Ruka firmly, but gently, captured his lips in a spine-tingling, completely Earth-shattering kiss. Deciding that whatever he had planned on saying could not be nearly as important as what his lips were currently occupied with, Rei sighed contently and completely gave himself over to Ruka and his love.

********

"You keep telling me patience, patience, patience! Well when is all this patience of mine going to pay off?" Stheno shouted at the two men seated in front of him. He was getting sick of waiting, sick of watching. He wanted to capture his little bird now, and remind him just to whom he truly belonged. Especially after tonight...

Just the thought of what he'd witnessed tonight made Stheno clench his fists in anger. His little bird had been so beautiful, bathing in the moonlit lake. But then that damn Ruka came. Stheno growled at the thought of that Saint Beast putting his hands all over Stheno's possession. Kissing him, touching him...

"It's been almost six months, and still nothing! When will I be able to get what I desire?" Stheno snarled, glaring up at the two former angels seated on a dais in front of him.

"I know you are quite exasperated with the situation at present, but please continue to exercise a bit of patience," the figure with long, black hair said smoothly. "If all goes according to plan, not only will you capture that 'little bird' of yours, but we will acquire the rest of those Saint Beasts as well," The former angel smiled.

The white-haired figure next to him smiled as well, "Yes, and then, the true game can begin."

********

Well y'all, there you have it, chapter 4.

NinthFeather: And of course, you had to end it with yet another cliffhanger. Really, do you have any compassion towards your readers?

Me: Of course I do!! But sadism beats out compassion any day!

NinthFeather:...Your philosophies on life never cease to disturb me.

Me: Oh well. I can live with that. Anyway, just for those of you who didn't guess this already, the two former angels at the end were none other than Lucifer and Gabriel. That's right, I'm bringing in villains from the actual series into my fanfic!! Woot!!

NinthFeather:...and you are excited about this...why?

Me: Because Lucifer and Gabriel are awesome!! In a demonic, creepy sort of way.

NinthFeather: So in other words, they're just like you.

Me: That was mean!

NinthFeather: Tell me it's not true.

Me: I didn't say it wasn't true, but it was still mean!! T.T

NinthFeather: Oh, just go do some more shameless review begging. It'll make you feel better.

Me: Ok! *turns to readers* PLEASE GIVE ME REVIEWS!!!!! I AM THE ULTIMATE REVIEW JUNKIE, AND I NEED MY FIX!!! FEED THE JUNKIE!!!

NinthFeather:...You're starting to scare me.

Me: Only starting?

NinthFeather: Good point. You've always scared me.

Me: Thank you! Now, I should have the next chapter out sometime this weekend, at the latest by Monday.

NinthFeather: Please pray that she lets me go by then.

Me: Not a chance, NinthFeather.

Adios for now!

~Neko-chan~