boo: Uploading early, because I'm going to be at a Renaissance Festival tomorrow, and if today was any indication, I'm going to be completely exhausted when I get home. Incidentally, if any of you are in the general area of Corona, CA, you should go too. Koroneburg Festival is a really great time and a great faire. It runs every weekend until the 17th of June.

Disclaimer: She's not being paid for this advertisement. She's just good friends with a performer there and wants to make him more money.

boo: He's had a rough year. It's the least I could do.

Disclaimer: boo does not own ToS. Don't sue her, there's really no point in it.

Honesty

"It's my fault." Anna said suddenly out of the darkness, her voice breaking the silence. It was two weeks after they had left Palmacosta. She had been very quiet those two weeks. Kratos knew she was still grieving for that tiny life that had never had a chance to live.

"Hm?" He asked, confused. She was on the other side of the fire from him, laying in her bed roll. He sat up from where he was leaning against a fallen tree to see her better.

"What happened to Rose. To be honest, it's my fault. It's because of me the Desians keep attacking us." She rolled over, her head resting on her arm. "The Desians... This gem..." She brushed the blood red gem at her throat. "It's some kind of experiment. They never told me much, but I know it's important to them. And that it's killed everyone who has worn it except me." She sighed heavily. "I won't blame you if you want to leave. It's not safe for you to travel with me..."

"Anna." He said, cutting her off. "If we're being honest... I, too, am being followed by the Desians."

"Why?" She asked.

He paused, looking down. Could he tell her this? He looked up again and felt his heart constrict. He couldn't not. He loved her, he had for months. He wanted to be with her always, to hold her, to kiss her, to sleep beside her... He could not do these things, not without telling her the truth about him.

"How old do you think I am?" He asked.

Anna thought about it. "I dunno. Thirty or forty maybe?"

He sighed. "I am somewhere near four thousand years old." Anna's eyes widened, but she said nothing, so he continued. "I was alive for... and fought in... the Kharlan War. I traveled, long ago, with the hero Mithos." He snorted. "'Hero'. After the Kharlan War, Mithos' sister, Martel, was killed. Her dying wish was for the world to be at peace. Mithos misinterpreted her last wishes and... tore the world in two, to separate the warring factions. He created the Desians, and the Martel religion." He buried his face in his hands. "I should have stopped this then. I should have... I should have done something. I let him create the Desians, the thing that has tormented and killed so many people. And I did nothing."

Soft, gentle hands pulled his hands away from his face. He looked up. Anna knelt before him, her face full of sorrow. Wordlessly she leaned forward and embraced him. For a moment he sat frozen, before his arms came up around her, pulling her tight to his chest. Before he knew what was happening he found himself crying, sobbing into her shoulder. Anna said nothing, just held him, letting the grief and pain he had been holding in for thousands of years flood out in a rush.

What felt like hours later Anna sat in his lap, her arms loose around his shoulders. He held her securely to him, savoring this moment. She was so small, but so warm and so sweet. She smelled wonderful, like the air after a storm. For the first time in his long life, he wished that time would just stop, that he would never, ever have to let her go.

He had to tell her. Now. "While we're being honest- " He started, only to be stopped by Anna's mouth suddenly covering his. Before he could react, she pulled away.

"I love you." She said quietly. "I don't care what you've done in the past, I love you for who you are now. I hope you don't mind." His answer was to thread his fingers into her hair and pull her in for another kiss, more lingering than the first one.

"I love you too." He said when they came back up for air. "For months, I have loved you." He kissed her again, his tongue tangling with hers. He touched her cheek gently, caressing her soft skin. "Anna Irving, please, I love you, will you marry me?"

She smiled. "While we're being honest, yes, I absolutely will."

boo: As always, please review! If ten people review this chapter I'll update early.