All of them were there, and as much as I feared that this was but a mere dream it just felt too real to be a trick of mind. The warm skin under my hands, the firm body pressed against me, the joyful voice speaking into my ear and the smiles on the other three faces that surrounded me.

Arthur was softly smiling, keeping a bit of a distance as if not to intrude too much into out reuniting, a little unrest present in his eyes, while he was searching the forest behind me for any sign of more people to come.

Tino was almost bouncing, his lavender eyes sparkling, yet dampened with a bit of apprehension as the brushes where I had come from stayed silent. Still the relief over my safe return never ceased to show on his face.

Emil openly grinned at me; his usually composed features completely dissolved into showings of emotions, clutching his puffin and biting his lips to prevent the building up tears from falling. "Brother…" he said voice almost not audible over the loud exclamations of affection from the big man in whose embrace I was almost crushed. My heart was soaring when I heard him call me brother, it was a warm and fuzzy feeling, akin to pride, and I smiled back at Emil, who still considered me a brother after I had screwed up so majorly.

And finally the man in my arms, Mathias whose eyes were as bright as the morning sky, who cradled my face in his hands and kissed every inch of skin as if to make sure that I was real. His voice bubbled in an endless stream of light-hearted chatter and I finally silenced him with a deep kiss pressed on his lips. Oh how I had missed him. It was a short and sloppy kiss, but we were both breathing faster when we broke it, looking in the eyes of the other with breathless wonder.

It could only have been a few seconds since I stumbled on the clearing and sure enough a loud rustling signalled the arrival of my two companions. A moment of breathless silence followed their appearing and then with a rather unmanly squeal, Tino flung himself in Berwalds chest, causing him to wince in pain at the impact, but that didn't prevent him from wrapping his good arm around Tino and lifting him up in the air.

The reunion of Arthur and Francis was calmer, but no less affectionate, after a moment of silent staring in each other's eyes they hugged in a tight embrace, Arthur burying hid face in Francis' shoulder while the latter blinked away the moisture in his eyes.

No everything would be well again.

It took a little while of hugs and kisses before everyone had got his share of reunion cuddles and only then did we finally take on the task of sorting out what happened.

Tino hadn't missed the obvious existence of Berwalds injury and so we settled down on the small camp that Mathias, Arthur, Tino and Emil had set up here prior to our arrival. Mathias pulled me on his lap, his hands all over me and I let him do as he pleased, gladly indulging in his need to touch me. It was nice and comforting to feel his warmth again and the safety that came with it.

Tino leaned against Berwalds knees, fiddling with his thumbs, clearly put in unrest from Berwalds roughed up appearance but after another reassuring grunt from Berwald, he finally settled down. I couldn't blame him, I didn't know if I could keep so calm if Mathias was injured like that. But for now we finally were together again and that was all that mattered.

Arthur sat beside Francis, who couldn't seem to get his hands off the other, and albeit grumbling Arthur accepted the attention with a not really believable frown. Despite the grumpiness that Arthur showed whenever he was showered in Francis' affection, I was sure that deep down he really enjoyed it.

Emil was sitting next to Mathias and me, and I couldn't help to feel a little sorry for him that there was no one for him to be close to. I nudged Mathias in the side and after a few confused looks he finally understood and pulled Emil into his arms so that he could cuddle with us. A light blush dusted my brother's cheeks but he gladly accepted the offered warmth.

I began to tell what happened after we got separated, Francis occasionally supplied extra detail and Berwald would agree with a low grunt. It was not easy to relive the events, especially the state of the city and its population caused a weak feeling in my stomach and when the part came, where Berwald stayed behind, Francis had to take over, because I couldn't recall the events immediately afterwards. It was especially hard to watch Tino's expression change when he learned of his lover's bravery that almost led to his death and I felt a stab of guilt as Tino clenched Berwalds hand in his, face pale and eyes wide as he listened to Francis' story.

After Francis had finished, Berwald took over and quickly explained how he managed to escape, eliciting the same reactions of surprise and disbelief from the others than from me and Francis when we first heard of it.

I then proceeded to tell what happened from our reunion with Berwald to this point in time; I couldn't thank fate enough for this chance encounter that by all means should have been impossible to happen.

But maybe fate had finally decided to smile down upon us.

"We're such an awesome couple that even destiny couldn't hold us apart." Mathias said with laughter present in his voice and I had to grin too, it was sure stupid but also almost a little comforting to think like this. After all we had been through, there had to be something special in our relationship. It was nice to know that we would always be able to stay together, no matter what life threw at us. I wondered if the others felt the same.

"So what happened to you after we parted ways?" Francis asked and poked Arthur's cheek. Arthur swatted the offending hand away and exchanged a glance with Mathias to sort out who should tell the story, before he started speaking. Mathias, for once, was content with stroking my back lazily and just listening.

"Well we couldn't stay for obvious reasons so we got out of there as fast as possible. It was not easy though." It was clear from the tones of his voice that Arthur wasn't referring to the task itself but to the necessity to leave us behind. Francis squeezed his hand reassuringly, the gesture mimicked by Berwald and me, we all knew that this was the right decision, no matter how hard it had been.

"We were almost caught by enemy troops but thanks to the bad weather conditions, they didn't see us and so we made it behind their lines." Arthur continued with steady voice. "We made a short break to decide what to do next and we came to the result to search for you guys." For a split second there was an almost guilty expression on his face, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared and I wasn't sure if it wasn't just a trick of my imagination. No one else seemed to notice though and so I focused on Arthur's story again.

"I thought that you might have used the secret passage that Francis and I had discovered a few years ago and so we agreed on going to the exit and wait there for you. But we got delayed, we had to hide from various troops that patrolled the area and when we finally reached the old barn, there were soldiers there too. At first we thought that they had discovered the passageway before you and they were now guarding the exit but then we overheard them talking about a pair that assumedly escaped through there, along with the Lord and his family.

We had no other choice then but to retreat, we couldn't risk getting discovered. We didn't know what to make of the information though, we were looking for three and not two people but according to those soldiers, only two had escaped and we highly doubted that you were with the Lord and his party. We thought that maybe you got separated and only two made it, but it could have been as well that no one of you escaped and the pair was just someone else." Arthur sighed heavily, pushing some stray strands of hair out of his eyes, it was apparent that it had been a stressful situation for them, both Tino and Emil were fidgeting and even Mathias had paused his strokes on my back.

"We had a little argument there," Tino flinched at Arthur's words, but didn't interrupt him, "Either we would continue the search for you, which would assume that at least part of you had made it or we would give up and go to the capital. There was still hope that you could have made it otherwise, but we were rather... discordant at the matter."

My lungs chose this point to erupt into another bout of violent coughs, shaking my whole body and leaving me wheezing in Mathias' arms. "Are you okay babe?" Mathias asked with worry evident in his voice, holding me at arm's length to take a scrutinizing look at me. I smiled weakly; my chest was hurting from the forceful constricting, I knew that he wouldn't believe me, but I still insisted on being fine.

Francis and Berwald exchanged glances, both had experienced my fits of coughing and knew very well that I couldn't be fine, but neither of them said anything, and so I coaxed Mathias and the others into believing that everything was okay. Honestly, I didn't feel that bad, apart from the occasional coughing and the ensuing pain in my chest, I felt fine. And since the willow bark tea had helped to ease the symptoms a little, I didn't think that there was anything to worry about.

So after I had assured him of my wellbeing, Arthur resumed his story: "We then decided to make our way to the capital, because there was not really much else we could have done at this point. We were on our way there, when you found us; we actually wanted to take a short break here, thinking that no one would find us behind all those brushes."

His words were met with good natured laughter, everyone was aware of just how easily we could have missed each other, if it weren't for Berwalds superior skills. But we were all the more thankful.

I was lying in Mathias' lap again; my left hand was in Emil's firm grasp beside me, while the other rested idly on my belly. Mathias was playing with my hair, his warm fingers creating a wonderful blissful feeling, while he involuntarily massaged my head. I would never let this amazing man out of my sight again. I reached out my hand to place it on Mathias' cheek, smiling up at him.

Mathias put his hand over mine and returned the smile, his face split with a huge grin, my heart speeding up the slightest bit from seeing that grin again after the separation that had felt far longer than it really was.

Emil squeezed my hand, the scarred wounds no longer hurting and I gently returned the gesture, relieved that not only my lover but also my brother was safe. I could just have lied there forever, Mathias' lap as my pillow and my friends all around me, even the cold and hard floor underneath me couldn't dampen my happiness.

A quiet conversation between Arthur and Francis caught my attention, Francis seemed worried about something and Arthur was bit disgruntled. Francis then with a sigh spoke up, Arthur's eyes fixed on the ground and I could see that whatever it was, it was hard on them.

"Mathias, I know this is probably not the right moment to address this, but I was wondering if you could help us out a little." Francis bit his lip as he was struggling with the words. "We don't have much money with us, and we would a place to stay in the capital so I'd like to ask you if you could lend us some until we stand on our feet again. Of course we'll repay you..."

"Don't be ridiculous." Mathias exclaimed, sitting up and pushing me put of his lap in the process. "You're staying with us of course and no you don't have to pay for it." I rubbed my elbow that had made a painful meeting with the ground, receiving an apologetic pat on the shoulder from Mathias as he continued: "After all we have been through together, we won't just leave you behind like that." Arthur looked as if he wanted to say something but he was cut off by Mathias, "You took us in without even knowing us, remember? And you never asked for compensation. And then both of you helped us to get out of there and I think that entitles us to call you friends, don't you think so?"

I sat up and nodded, I knew that all of us agreed with Mathias in that matter, even Berwald grunted in approval. "But we don't want to impose on you." Francis worried, but there was already relief evident in his eyes. Mathias chuckled and leaned back again, pulling me with him, while Emil reclaimed the hand he had been playing with. "Don't worry, our house is big enough and half of it isn't even used most of the time so you would even do us a favour by living up the house a bit.

"Alright." Francis said and smiled, "thank you." "Don't mention it." Tino assured, "Like Mathias said, we are friends and friends look out for each other. Besides, your cooking just tastes wonderfully Francis, so I expect you to cook for us from time to time." "With pleasure."

With that settled it was time to take care of more urgent matters. "We should make some plans I think and probably check our provisions; I fear that we might run out of food at some point." I gently pulled my hand out of Emil's grasp and stood up to fetch the bags. Since Berwald had lost his bag and Francis and I had almost no food in ours left, we would have to rely entirely on what the others had brought. Maybe we could catch an animal, but without Berwalds sling and more importantly with his hurt shoulder, it would be difficult. The weather was cold, there would be not much edible plants out there that we could rely on, and I'd rather not enter another settlement before we reached the capital.

"I think we have enough blankets." Tino pointed out as he helped me go through the bags. "But I think we need some more bandages for Berwald, and some of his wounds look like they need another cleaning." I had to agree, aside from the shoulder wound there were other various cuts and bruises on Berwald, and while most of them looked just fine after they had received proper care from Berwalds men, some still looked nasty. "We have some willow bark left." Francis suggested, but then he furrowed his brow. "Although I don't think that'll work on his bruises, but at least we can make some tea for Lukas' cough." He threw me a pointed look as if to say that he wouldn't let my illness go untreated.

I finished my search for food and packed the items back in the bags. It didn't look too good but it could have been a lot worse. "This will last us for a few days, if we ration it. How long until we reach the capital from here?" I asked, trying to do the math right in my head.

"That depends." Berwald said, brows furrowed in concentration. "Between a week and a f'rtnight." I sighed, I didn't expect the journey to be so long. "Depending on what?" Maybe, if we made really small rations we would last for a week, but never a fortnight. Berwalds deep grunting voice startled me out if my voice, "The weather for once, our route is another thing, if we use the main road or stuck to smaller more hidden paths, there still could be soldiers out there searching the area that would delay us further." "Don't forget your condition." Tino added with a stern voice, he was clearly worried for Berwalds wellbeing. "Don't say it's nothing." Tino chided as Berwald attempted to say something. "You can't fool me, and neither can you." His last words were directed at me and he cast me a glare that promised me never ending pain if I should continue to lie about my condition.

I chose to ignore it and instead resumed my food count. Tino huffed in slight annoyance but let it slide. "We need food." I announced, having come to the conclusion that it was highly unlikely to reach our destination in a week and thus it was not wise to stretch the food for that amount of time, because it would leave us too weak and still without food in the end. The question was where to get food?

"We could hunt some game." Mathias suggested and I quirked an eyebrow at him. "How would you do that?" Mathias grinned, "I was trained in the noble sport of hunting too, don't forget that." "Have you any weapons?" Arthur asked from the other side of the clearing, where he was checking on some low growing trees as it seemed. Mathias face fell instantly. Before all this happened I would have made a snarky remark at Mathias' expense but not anymore. He was making an effort and I knew that he would do anything possible to get us safe into the capital. Who cared if he failed a little on the way?

"We could make some sort of throwing spear out if these branches." Arthur proposed as he was struggling with one of the long branches, trying to rip it off from the tree. "Can you work with those?" He asked, after he had given up on getting the branch down with pure violence. Francis fetched him a knife and Arthur proceeded to cut down the piece of wood. "I think so." Mathias answered, "I got trained at most weapons but often enough that would only include some basic lectures, but I should be able to handle it."

"Good." With a loud snap the last bit of fibre that connected the branch with its tree tore and Arthur stumbled a few steps backward before he steadied his footing again.

"Anyone into woodcarving?"

...