4th: Reunion

He remembered and he hated to remember. To remember meant to feel the pain all over again … the pain of being ripped away from his home and his family … being ripped away from her. He sat in the library of the guild and tried to breathe properly but with the celestial spirit mage running around, he was hardly able to act his normal, playboy act. For a split moment he wondered if the Trimen of Blue Pegasus ever had similar problems before he forced himself to think of something else because Trimen meant Hibiki and Hibiki meant Karen's lover and Karen's lover meant Karen and Karen meant nothing but depressed thoughts for hours.

It was pathetic in a way. He was Leo. He was the leader of the twelve spirits – the king's most trusted lieutenant. And now, he was bound by the same rules he had enforced upon others for centuries. He sighed deeply as he tried to think of something else – or better yet: of someone else. He thought of Aries because to think of her made him remember that he hadn't messed up everything and that there were a few people who might be actually grateful for his revolt against the green-haired witch who had been his master once.

Aries … shy, kind Aries … he sighed deeply as he thought of soft brown eyes and bubblegum pink hair with small brown horns … she had been too kind for her own good, he and Scorpio had always said this. The three zodiac spirits associated to the element fire had been close a long time ago before they had chosen different masters to fight for. The lion gritted his teeth as he remembered how Aries and he had chosen the same master and how they had stayed together for centuries in the Human World.

It had been a promise between them that they would never walk different paths. He had sworn at his honour that he would never allow anyone to hurt her and she had cried tears of happiness as she had realised that he had just promised her to stay by her side forever.

She didn't want to fight him as they met again after three long and painful years in the Human World and a few days in the Realm of the Spirits. On the one side, he looked happier than he had ever looked under Karen's harsh reign but on the other side, they were friends and she didn't want to fight the only true friend she had ever had.

Still, orders were orders and she knew that none of her attack would hurt them because he was Leo, the leader of the Twelve Spirits of the Zodiac. Leo never got hurt when Aries, fluffy and kind Aries, attacked him – even if she went at him with her full strength because they were enemies now and she remembered just too well what Angel had done to Scorpio after he had been defeated by Corona Australis, a stellar spirit swordswoman, who had wiped the floor with him. True, the scorpion hadn't been at his best because Corona was an old friend but still. A stellar spirit had a pride and an honour to defend. She sighed as she formed another Wool Bomb but she remembered what the king had said, more than a century of human time ago: "Even if you owe your enemy, a former comrade, a great debt, for your master's sake, you must defeat them … that is … your pride as stellar spirits."

At least wool attacks didn't hurt, she mused before she watched in terror how Angel (oh, the name barely covered up the vile personality of that woman) summoned Caelum. The Ram knew what this meant and she knew that Angel didn't care about her spirits at all – so she knew what would happen to her in a few seconds. She looked at Leo as she heard the zooming sound and just as the chisel's attack pierced her, their hands brushed for a second.

She remembered just as well as her old comrade. She remembered how Leo had looked before Karen had happened to them and just as they vanished, she mused how great Leo's master had to be because even though Karen's darkness still shadowed the glowing light of Regulus, he seemed to be less … depressed and unhappy now. She was happy about this because there was no one who had done as much for Aries as Leo had done in the past and she wanted to thank him for all his sacrifices … because she loved him.

Leo slowly opened his eyes after he had been hit by Caelum. The attack had been overwhelming and it had shattered his defences like they had never existed in first place. He looked around, searching for Aries and he saw her on the other side of the place, dusting off and straightening her clothes before she sighed deeply. He wondered why fate had been so cruel to her. From Karen to Angel, her masters had been cruel women, he decided.

He got up and caught up with her as they headed for the inner town of the spirit realm where they paused for a moment to star at the stars above them. Once again, their hands brushed and this time, he grabbed her hand and held it for a moment. He wasn't sure how he had stood being away from her for so long but he knew that he couldn't let go now. He couldn't leave her alone – and if it meant to steal her key from whoever would be her master after Angel's defeat – hopefully, Lucy wouldn't lose to the spineless bitch who had caused both of them so much pain.

There were no words necessary between them because they had been friends for centuries and all the old problems seemed to be dead and gone at the moment. For a moment, Leo closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around the pink-haired spirit's waist. He didn't want to see anything right now. He just wanted to memorise the feeling of being … complete again for a moment and he wanted to tell himself that she would be alright again because as long as she was in the realm, no one could hurt her and her old wounds would heal here.

He didn't want to know anything about the future – even if it was burning right in front of him. He didn't want to think about the ongoing fight between their respective masters. He wanted to savour the first moment of true happiness he had felt in a long time – fearing that it might be the last in an equally long time. He sighed softly because he didn't want to lose her again. He loved her, had loved her for a ridiculous long time and to let her go again would probably do what three years in the Human World hadn't done: it would kill him.

He followed her gaze as she looked at the stars and suddenly, he realised that nothing would ever come between them – because in the end, they were stars … eternal, beautiful and together.

AN1: I will update the next time once I reach 7 reviews for this story.

AN2: Which pairing should I do next? Choose one of the following:

MiraFried
LeoAries
Laxana
Gruvia
NaLu
BiscaAlzack
ElfGreen
LyonUltear
Jerza
RogueYukino
GaVy
AquaScorpio

RoWen