And it's the end of my break and back to school again. Sigh. Well I had to study but I managed to get this chapter typed up, bit by bit. I like where it ended off, it's like a conclusive start? Kind of an oxymoron but that's what I felt. The next chapter will probably be short (though I've hardly started) 'cause the next next chapter will be long ;) I'm not quite sure what I'm writing there but oh well.

Anyway thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it :) I'm replying to them soon. Sorry, been so busy with catching up on studying. Do keep them coming :) This story isn't all that structured, so if there's anything you want to see, do say so in a review and I'll try to put it in. No guarantee though haha, depends on what it is. But your ideas may give me an idea.

Oh and one more thing. Cyclone told me the download doesn't work - it doesn't allow you guys to download or something? Sigh sorry 'bout that, haven't used that thing for years. Well I can ask cyclone to post it on mediafire or you can PM me with your email and I'll send it to you. Well that is, how many of you are still interested in the cut version of Butterfly piano intended for the chapter, 'Hellfire'? Do tell me in a review if you are.

And so, enjoy reading. As for me, I have to start on my damn homework. Forgot all about it while studying and reading manga.

Taichi sighed as he stared at the sleeping Yamato. He observed the Ice Mage's sleeping, pretty face with his brown eyes as he sat by the bed.

"I still can't believe he's a guy…"

Yamato was indeed effeminate, so Taichi figured he shouldn't be blamed for mistaking him for a girl. Even while sleeping, he looked so perfect, like a golden haired angel whom had fallen from the sky, with his golden wisps of hair framing his pretty face. His skin was pale, and he had long, feminine eyelashes. He had been so enchanted by the Ice Mage's beauty that he'd passed his low voice off and just found it strange that this pretty girl had such a low voice – like a guy's actually; but hey, no one was perfect, right? Not even this angel. Who cared if she used the masculine pronoun? He was sure he could make her use the feminine pronoun with him. After all, wasn't he the Hero? Well, here was his cold but pretty Heroine! Maybe she just didn't see how pretty and attractive she was. But well, wasn't that what he was here for, what he had found her for?

And then the pretty girl, his 'Heroine', turned out to be a pretty boy. With a smooth, almost silky voice. And a protective childhood friend. Taichi sighed and shook his head.

He thought back to when Yamato was trapped in the fire. He was glad his plan had worked, he hadn't been entirely sure it would. But it was the only way he could think of to save Yamato. Taichi would never have been able to forgive himself if Yamato died in the fire when he himself was immune to fire. He would have felt that guilt and loss for the rest of his life.

He'd never thought fire to be dangerous before. Fire was his element, he wasn't afraid of it. He'd never known it could be so dangerous, that it could kill. Well, he'd known, but the realization just hadn't sunk into his head until then, when he was forced to watch how Yamato was affected and weakened by the fire, and could die in it.

But the beautiful smile Yamato gave him afterwards, the way he had looked into his eyes and said he trusted him, the warmth in his heart he'd felt when he held Yamato close to him – that feeling, he had never experienced it before.

"What is this…? Was Yuuki right? Do I really…"

"You know, it's okay to stare," Taichi jolted as Sora's amused voice sounded from behind him, "Ice Mages are naturally beautiful."

"W-Who said I was staring?" Taichi muttered. "He's unnaturally beautiful!"

Sora grinned, "Oh you weren't? I was!"

She laughed at the expression on Taichi's face, "Yamato may be able to control Lightning, but his main element is Ice," she said with a smile, "His mother was an Ice Mage."

"Was…?"

"Divorce," Sora's smile slipped, "She took his little brother with her. They were really close."

"Oh…" Taichi said sympathetically, "That's…sad." He murmured, trying to imagine being separated from Hikari. He couldn't.

"Ice is a beautiful Element." Sora said, smiling wryly, "I'm not a mage, but I admire Yamato's magic. His Ice is beautiful. Beautiful and dangerous."

"He truly is attuned to the element of Ice."

"Yeah," Taichi said softly as he thought back to how the shimmering glaciers had been melted down by the merciless fire. He swallowed, "How do you tell if someone is an Ice Mage?"

Sora brushed her hair back, "Mages use the elements for their magic, and they are usually most like the element they have control over," she turned her gaze to Taichi. "Ice Mages are like, well, Ice. Beautiful, cold and dangerous. While Fire Mages," her lips quirked, "Are more passionate, I would say."

"So if a Mage is born, other Mages would be able to tell?"

"No, that's only for Natural Mages."

"Then, how-"

"Mages discover the control over their element as they grow up," Sora said, "It depends on how attuned to it they are. But any proper mage should be able to harness their element at a young age."

"Huh? Then what's the staff for?"

"That's to control and regulate the magic," Sora smiled, "It's easy to create, for instance, an icicle without a staff. But it isn't easy to control it. Magic is volatile, Taichi. It's also dangerous."

"If you weren't a Natural Mage and you threw that ball of Fire at Yamato without a staff, it wouldn't have hit his icicle. It would have hit him instead."

Taichi bit his lip, "But, I'm a warrior…" he said miserably.

"I didn't say you weren't."

"How do you know so much about mages, Sora?"

"My mother is a Fire Mage," Sora revealed and Taichi blinked, "She tried to teach me magic."

"But I'm not a Mage, I'm a Warrior," Sora smiled, "I couldn't do any spells. So my father tried his hand at training me. He's an Elemental Warrior."

"I fared better than when I was learning from my mother, and my father was proud of me. He told me I had warrior blood," Sora chuckled, "My mother and him got into an argument when he wanted to make me an Elemental Warrior. But eventually, she gave in, maybe because I would finally learn how to conjure an element."

"And then?"

"Then I became an Elemental Warrior, it's kinda a secret so I can't tell you how," Sora grinned, "But even though we Elemental Warriors can harness the power of an element, we can't control it like mages can."

"Mages are the only ones who have great control over the Elements. They're a special species, you could say."

"Ah," Taichi blinked, "So since you're an Elemental Warrior, you have to be a guy?"

"Yeah, only males can be Elemental Warriors," Sora shrugged, "I'm sort of a special case, I guess. But I have to follow the custom." She smiled, "I'm an only child so my father depends a lot on me to carry on the legacy. My father's one of the leaders of the Elemental Warriors, and I'm like his successor. He's especially convinced since Aijou came to me, he said it was fate for me to have a bird of Fire."

"He gets a bit excited sometimes, you know? I'm really his son," Sora laughed, "Did you know that when I introduced Yamato to him he thought Yamato was my girlfriend?"

"What?!" Taichi gaped.

"Yeah! I couldn't believe it! He actually said, "She's beautiful. Is she your future wife, Sora?" Sora grinned in amusement, "Yamato was so mad I had to hold him back from attacking my father with his magic!"

"Although," Sora's grin turned sheepish, "Yamato ignored me for a while after that 'cause I couldn't resist laughing."

"I can imagine that." Taichi said, smiling. "You two must be close."

"Yeah, we are," Sora smiled, then sighed, "I was so- scared just now, you know? I thought I was going to lose him. I knew Aijou's immune to fire, but Yamato's not." She clenched her fist, "I...felt so useless…and I just wanted to dash into the fire, when you did it," she bit her lip, "I mean, all that tough training, and I couldn't even save him!"

"Sora…"

"That's why, I'm really grateful to you," Sora gave Taichi a genuine smile, "I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"I didn't do it for you." Taichi said. Sora blinked, and he blinked, then said, "No I didn't mean it that way! It's not that I don't appreciate your gratitude, but I did it because I wanted to save him too!"

Sora blinked again, then smiled. "I know." She said.

A short silence lasted between them as they both turned their gazes to the sleeping blond, until Taichi said, "So, how did you know we were here?"

"I followed you of course," Sora said in a matter of fact tone. She smirked slightly, "You didn't think I was going to leave a guy alone with Ya-chan?"

"W-What? It's not as if I was going to do anything- wait, you mean you ran here?!" Taichi exclaimed, mouth wide open. "Impossible! Or can Elemental Warriors teleport too?"

Sora blinked. "I couldn't exactly take Aijou, could I?" She said. "You didn't see me?"

"But- Yuuki was going so fast!"

Sora shrugged, "I've been training my speed," she said simply, "A warrior needs to move fast in a battle. Especially with his sword that'll weigh him down, he needs to dodge his enemies, dodging those trees wasn't hard. We can't teleport like mages do, so we have to gear up our speed."

"And, we Elemental Warriors are known for our speed."

Taichi blinked twice- and barely managed to bring his sword up to block Sora's sword, "W-Woah! What are you doing?!" He said in surprise, "Why did you attack me?!"

Sora smiled at him and withdrew, looking at him with an impressed look in her eyes, "Your reaction time is fast," she said, "Most people wouldn't have been able to anticipate it."

Taichi twitched, "You really do attack out of the blue, don't you?" He said wryly.

Sora giggled and Taichi stared, "Sorry!" She grinned, "It's just, it's my first time meeting another Warrior my age– who's not an Elemental Warrior."

Taichi blinked, then scratched his head, "Well but I control Fire," he said, "But that's 'cause I'm a Natural Mage, apparently…so am I an elemental warrior?" He blinked.

Sora smiled reassuringly at him, "It's alright, isn't it?" She said. "I'm sure you'll figure out what you want to be."

Taichi looked at her, then smiled. "Yeah, thanks," he said, "You're a good guy, Sora." He blinked. "Uh, I mean, girl-"

"It's okay," Sora grinned at him as she brushed her orange hair away from her eyes, shrugging, "I'm supposed to be a guy anyway. So you'll have to address me as a guy." She used the masculine pronoun and winked, "And as long as you don't refer to Ya-chan as a girl – he doesn't like that."

"Oh. Yeah, I know he's a guy now," Taichi said. He sighed, sheathed his sword then smiled and held out his hand. "We didn't really meet on good terms, huh? Friends, Sora?"

Sora blinked, then sheathed her sword as well and smiled and moved to clasp Taichi's hand, shaking it firmly. "Yeah, Taichi!"

Taichi smiled back and shook Sora's hand, before withdrawing, "Wow, even your palm's calloused," he grinned, "Looks like I finally have a warrior guy friend, huh? I've been waiting to meet one!"

"Elemental Warrior." Sora corrected with a good natured grin. "Same here, Taichi."

There was a soft groan, and both warriors blinked. They turned their attention to where Yamato was blinking open bleary blue eyes. "Ugh…what happened?"

"Yamato," Taichi said as he leaned over, "How are you feeling?"

Yamato blinked up at him. He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Sleepy," he said, "And kind of…warm."

"Warm?" Taichi said and placed his hand on Yamato's forehead. His eyes widened, "Yamato, I think you have a fever!"

"Fever?" Yamato murmured. "Taichi, you're warm…"

Taichi flushed and removed his hand, as Sora said, "Let me check, your body heat might be affecting his temperature," Taichi moved to the side and allowed Sora to feel Yamato's forehead. "Ah, it does feel warm. But I think it's just a slight fever."

"Can you get a thermometer?"

Sora nodded. She withdrew her hand and turned, "I'll be right back."

Taichi nodded. He looked at Yamato, then turned, "Right-"

He blinked at the absence of Sora and the sight of the open door. "He's fast."

He turned back, "Yamato, you can sleep first-" the brown haired boy blinked again, and then gave a wry smile, "And he's fast too. In falling asleep."

Yamato's eyes were closed and his cheeks were flushed. Taichi found himself staring- until slowly, he leaned over, his gaze moving down to the blond's lips-

"I'm back- luckily they had a thermometer-Taichi?"

"Gah!" Taichi shouted in surprise and backed away so fast from the sleeping Ice Mage he lost his balance and fell back onto the floor. "Oww…I-I wasn't doing anything!" He held up his hands, face pink.

Sora blinked, then smirked at him. "Really?"

"Really!" Taichi nodded, smiling, "I was just, you know, staring – 'cause it's natural to stare right?!"

Sora chuckled and moved towards the bed as Taichi got up from the floor, "Of course," she said teasingly, and placed the forehead thermometer on Yamato's forehead.

The bars lighted up from blue to orange to red, and the temperature flashed on the screen. Sora removed it and showed Taichi. "38.2°C." She said. "I think he was in that fire for too long, but it should be alright, I think."

"It isn't that high, right?" The Natural Fire Mage asked.

"Well, it's not dangerous since he seems fine, but it may be high," Sora said contemplatively. "I mean, Yamato's an Ice Mage and he's highly attuned to his Element so his normal body temperature may be lower than, mine, for example."

"That's true," Taichi agreed. He looked at Sora, "Is there any medicine we can give him?"

"I passed by a pharmacy on my way here, I can get fever medicine from there," Sora said. She smiled at Taichi, "Don't worry, I brought some money because I thought we would need it on this adventure- though, I didn't expect to meet you while I was searching for Ya-chan."

The elemental warrior turned, "Take care of him okay, Taichi?"

"I will," Taichi said. He smiled, "We'll split the cost later, yeah?"

Sora smiled at him. Then she walked to the window. Taichi blinked. "Sora?" He said. "Where are you going?"

Sora slid the window to the side, and pointed to a building with a red cross a distance away. "The pharmacy's just over there," she said cheerfully, "So I'll be taking the shortcut."

"Eh? You mean you're going through the window?!"

"Yup. If I go from the front door it'll take longer," Sora said. She turned and smiled at Taichi, "Don't worry, I'll be fine! We warriors have jumped from greater heights!"

"Sora-" Taichi blinked as Sora smiled, then jumped neatly out of the window. "Sora!"

He sprinted to the window, and looked out to see Sora on the ground. He stared, and the orange haired warrior brushed her hair which had fallen in front of her eyes back then grinned up at him. "Take care of Ya-chan for me!" Sora yelled.

Taichi blinked, "Yeah!" He shouted back, giving the thumbs up. Sora smiled and returned the gesture, then turned back to the front and sped off in a blur.

Taichi stared, then smirked.

"That guy…"

Blue eyes blinked slowly open. The blond sat up in the bed, yawning.

"Ya-chan?"

Yamato blinked. He raised his gaze. "Sora."

Sora smiled at him, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess."

"No fever?"

Yamato raised a hand to his forehead. "I don't think so."

"Well let's take your temperature, just in case." Sora said as she grabbed the thermometer from the dresser nearby, "Lie down."

Yamato nodded. He lay back down, and Sora leaned over, putting the thermometer on his forehead. This time, it lighted up from blue to orange only before the temperature flashed. Sora removed it and smiled. "The medicine's pretty effective."

"Medicine?"

"Yeah, you woke up just now to take it. You don't remember?"

"Not really…"

The door banged open, "Sora!" Taichi said with his hand on the door as he held up the cloth in his hand with two fingers. "I got Yuujou to freeze this!" He grinned, "Then I used my fire magic to melt the ice!" He shivered, "It's freezing cold!"

Sora blinked, but smiled, "You didn't have to go all the way back, Taichi," she said, "But yeah, that would be useful."

"Oh don't worry, it didn't take long!" Taichi brushed off and advanced forward. He smiled, "How are you feeling, Yamato?"

Yamato yawned. "Drowsy." He mumbled.

"Must be an after effect of the medicine," Sora deduced as she turned to Taichi. His temperature's fine, but since he's an Ice Mage I think it may still be a bit too high." She nodded, "That cold cloth will help."

"Yeah." Taichi said. He nodded and Sora moved to the side, and Taichi took her place. He bent, held the cloth properly and stretched it out and placed the wet cloth on Yamato's forehead. "How is it, Yamato? Is it too cold? It's Yuujou's ice."

Yamato blinked, then smiled and closed his eyes. "It's nice." He murmured as he felt the refreshing coldness fill his body. "It's just nice."

"Thanks, Yuujou."

"No problem, Yamato!" Yamato smiled as he heard Yuujou's voice in his mind, "How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy, but it seems my fever has gone down."

"Alright. I wish I could be there," Yuujou sounded wistful. But then he seemed to be smiling, "But I'm just happy to be able to talk to Yamato!"

"Get well soon, okay? Oh and Taichi melted my ice, you should thank him!"

"Yeah." Yamato smiled. He cracked open one blue eye, and looked at Taichi, "Thanks, Taichi." He turned his head, and opened another eye, "You too, Sora."

"No problem, Yamato!" Taichi grinned.

Sora smiled. "You're welcome, Ya-chan."

Yamato smiled at them, then closed his eyes and let the cold lull him into slumber.

"Hey, Taichi?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"Uh," Taichi said from where he was rubbing a fireball between his hands, "I'm trying to warm up?" He sighed, "Yuujou's ice was really cold."

Sora stared as Taichi shivered again and squashed the fireball with his hands into something that looked like a pancake, sighing in contentment. "I've never seen magic being used this way." She murmured in surprise. "Poor fireball."

Taichi looked guilty. He took his hands away and placed the ball of fire on one hand. "Sorry fireball." He said apologetically, and patted the fireball. "But I need your heat! Or my hands are going to freeze."

He looked to Sora, and another fireball appeared in his other hand. He smiled and held it out to Sora. "Do you want one too, Sora?"

Sora twitched but managed to smile, "Taichi," she said patiently, "I'm sorry, but I'm not immune to fire like you are, unless it's my own magic."

"…Oops." Taichi shrugged and allowed the fireball he offered Sora to extinguish. He then smiled and went back to warming up his hands with the fireball. "Sorry Sora."

"It's fine." Sora sighed. She looked at Taichi as he tossed the fireball from hand to hand, smiling, and couldn't help but sigh again, but smile and murmur.

"This guy…"

"Hey, hey, when do you think they're coming back?"

"Soon, probably."

Aijou sighed. "I miss Sora." She murmured as she flapped her flaming wings in the blue sky.

Yuujou looked at her. "Don't you talk to her?"

"Yeah, but it's not the same as seeing her!"

Yuujou stared, then sighed as well. "And I miss Yamato!" He said sadly. "I want to talk to him but I don't want to disturb his rest!"

"Heyyyyyyyy!"

Yuujou blinked. He looked up, red eyes widening, "That voice!"

"It's Taichi!" Aijou exclaimed.

The dragon and phoenix looked down from the sky, to where the brown haired boy was riding on the griffin with Yamato behind him. "What are you guys doing up there?!" He yelled. "Come down!"

"Yuujou!" Yamato called.

"Aijou!" Sora waved as she came into the forest clearing.

"Sora!"

"Yamato!"

"Backtrack, Yuuki," Taichi said. "They're going to land."

Yuuki nodded and turned, running a few metres away as Sora did the same. They watched as Yuujou and Aijou flapped their wings and descended to the ground. Yuujou landed rather heavily but Aijou headed straight for Sora, "Sora!"

Sora grinned, "Aijou!" She said in surprise as the phoenix hugged her happily, enclosing her in flaming feathers.

"I missed you, Sora!" Aijou trilled.

Sora laughed as Aijou nuzzled her hair, "It was only a few days!" She said, but reached out her hand to ruffle the flaming bird's feathers, "I missed you too, Aijou."

Aijou smiled brightly. "Sora!" She exclaimed in delight, and the orange haired warrior laughed as the phoenix nuzzled her hair again.

"Yamato!"

Yamato smiled and unhooked his arms from around Taichi's waist and jumped off Yuuki's back, landing neatly on the forest ground. He walked towards Yuujou as the dragon made his way towards him, "Yuujou."

"Yamato!" Yuujou looked down at him with shining red eyes, "Are you alright?!"

"Yeah," Yamato reassured his partner and Yuujou smiled happily as the ice mage placed a hand on his head, a fond smile on his lips. "I'm much better. Thanks, Yuujou."

"I'm glad, Yamato!" Yuujou smiled as Yamato slid his hand down the dragon's long neck with a smile, "I was worried about you!"

"I know, Yuujou." Yamato sighed. "I keep on making you worry. Sorry."

"It's alright, as long as Yamato is alright!" Yuujou said forgivingly and Yamato smiled.

"Yeah."

Taichi grinned as he watched the scene, "It's great to see everyone back with their partners, isn't it, Yuuki?!"

Yuuki nodded and grinned as well, "That's right, Taichi!"

Taichi's grin widened and he projected his voice, "Hey guys! Are we ready to go?!"

"Ah, yeah!" Sora said and Aijou released her. She smiled and jumped onto the back of the huge flaming bird. "We're ready!"

"Yeah," Yamato smiled as he teleported onto Yuujou's back. He held out his staff, "Let's go."

"Yeah!" Taichi pumped his fist into the air with an eager grin, "So let's go on an adventure! Find the other Chosen Ones, defeat the Darkness, kill Dragons-"

Yuujou gaped, "Kill Dragons?!"

"Well yeah!" Taichi said. He grinned as Yamato and Yuujou stared, "Oh not you, Yuujou! Those bad dragons! You're a good dragon!" He laughed.

Yuujou blinked. "Oh…"

"Hey Taichi," Yuuki said softly, "Weren't you scared of Yuujou when you first saw him?"

Taichi flushed, "Oh shut up, Yuuki," he said, "That was just nerves!"

But Yuuki grinned, and announced, "Hey guys! Actually, Taichi was scared of Yuujou-mph!"

"You!" Taichi said angrily as he clamped Yuuki's beak shut, "I told you not to say anything!"

Yuuki smirked, and managed to get out, "And Taichi thought Yamato was pretty-ow!"

"YUUKI!" Taichi yelled, his face bright red. "I can never trust you to keep a secret!"

Yuuki pouted and reached up a paw to rub his feathers, "You didn't have to hit me, Taichi!" He whined.

Taichi scoffed and crossed his arms as Yamato blinked, then smirked and said, "Oh really?"

Taichi felt his face warm as Yamato looked at him. "Uh yeah-but Sora said you're an I-Ice Mage so it's natural!" He blabbered. He uncrossed his arms, "R-Right anyway! Let's go, Yuuki!"

"Your face is red, Taichi!"

"I said, let's go!"

"Ow!" Yuuki pouted again as Taichi hit his neck, "You don't have to hit me just 'cause you're embarrassed!"

Everyone laughed, and Taichi turned even more red.

"Yuuki…" Taichi growled.

Yuuki smiled nervously. "…Okay, okay, I'm going!"

Yamato watched in amusement as Yuuki took to the air. "He's fun to tease." He murmured. "How cute."

"…Yamato?!"

"Nothing," Yamato said, flushing slightly. "Go, Yuujou."

"Oh really?" Yuujou grinned slyly.

Yamato glared as Yuujou giggled. "Alright, alright," the ice dragon gave him another grin, "Yamato's cute too!"

"Yuujou!"

"Sorry!"

Sora smiled and shook her head fondly as Yuujou rose to the sky. "We better get going too, Aijou."

"Yeah!" Aijou agreed. She looked up, "They're calling you!"

"Hey, Sora!" Taichi shouted from Yuuki's back, "Why aren't you up here yet?!"

"Let's go, Sora!" Yamato yelled from the sky as he and Yuujou looked down at her.

Sora blinked, then smiled. "Yeah." She said softly. "Let's go, Aijou. Let's join them."

Aijou turned her head and smiled back. "Okay, Sora."

The phoenix spread out her flaming wings and with a rush of air and a flaming trail, took to the sky to join their friends.