"Did you and Yuuri have a fight?" Greta asked as she threw the baseball.

With some part of his brain, Wolfram registered that she was getting pretty good at throwing, maybe she had practised? He hadn't been around a lot lately; when Yuuri was on Earth he had taken the opportunity to spend some time in the von Bielefeld territory.

Now he almost wished he had stayed there, that he had stayed there forever and that he had found someone else, someone who loved him, so that he could have been the one to break up. But no, it had to be Yuuri who did it, and it wasn't even because some girl back on Earth. That was something he almost could have understood, but no, it had to be Saralegui of all people…

"Wolfram?" Greta called for his attention, and he remembered her question.

"We didn't fight", he replied. "I mean, sort of, but it's… complicated."

Is Yuuri going to leave it to me to break the news to Greta? he wondered.

"It always is with the two of you", was the child's comment. She caught the ball and came running closer to him, and held out her hand for him to take.

He took it, and wondered if she was going to cry when he told her. If he did. Maybe he and Yuuri should do it together… one last thing to do together, as a couple. Not that they had been doing many things together as a couple before, but there had always been that comforting illusion of togetherness, and a lot of it was thanks to their adopted child…

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Complicated", she repeated. "You're not like other couples! Or at least not like Hube and Nicola. You know, sometimes when I go there to play with Elle, I see how he comes up to her when she's cooking or something, and he wraps her arms around her waist and kisses her in the neck, and she…"

"Why are you telling me this?" Wolfram interrupted. The last thing he wanted was to hear how happy other couples were together…

"I was just thinking", Greta said. "I've never seen Yuuri touch you like that. And if you tried to kiss him in the neck I'll bet he'd hit you as hard as he could! I asked Nicola what she thought – "

"You did what?!"

Wolfram stared at the child and hoped he had misheard her. But she just looked up at him with those innocent big eyes that didn't have any trace of malice in them, and he knew she hadn't meant to stick her little nose in where it didn't belong.

"She said it's because you're both boys so you're probably embarrassed to show affection around other people. She said you probably cuddle and stuff when I'm asleep."

It wasn't a question, but there was something in her tone of voice that made Wolfram realize that she really was worried, or confused.

"We don't", he said before he could stop himself. But it was the truth, wasn't it? Yuuri had never wanted to cuddle and he just wouldn't let Wolfram touch him, and Wolfram had more or less stopped trying, for his own sanity's sake. It was better to at least pretend that it was his choice. And he had sworn never to speak of it to anyone, and it was so wrong to talk about it with Greta, but she had started it!

He blushed and wanted to bite his tongue, hard.

Greta sighed, "That's what I thought. That's why I said you're not like other couples, because you never act like you're in love. Well, at least Yuuri doesn't. I just don't get it."

"What is it that you don't get?" Wolfram squeezed her warm little hand and wished that her questions could clear some of his confusion, too.

"I don't get why you're even together", Greta admitted. "I mean, I know you're supposed to get married one day…"

Wolfram closed his eyes, took a deep breath and prayed for strength. The sun was hot on his face, but not as hot as the pain inside him that he wanted to keep away from his voice. Greta said what everybody no doubt was already thinking. But they would all know soon, they would know that the wonderful, black-haired young king loved someone else and that's why he shied away from his fiancé's love…

"It's like that for nobles and royalty sometimes", he said. "Sometimes, a couple get engaged for… various reasons that you're too young to understand" – like a foreigner making a mistake – "and love comes later, when they've gotten to know each other more…"

"Really?" Greta's eyes were wide. "So… when I grow up, maybe I'll have to get engaged to somebody I'm not in love with yet? What if we never fall in love?"

"Yeah, what if?!" Wolfram laughed mirthlessly. "But don't worry, Greta. I won't let it happen to you. You'll never have to marry someone you're not madly in love with, I promise you that. And Yuuri doesn't want that either."

"It's a promise", she said, and at least some of the worry in her face disappeared. "I want it to be like Nicola and Hube. Or like Anissina and Lady Chérie."

It didn't escape Wolfram that he and Yuuri weren't mentioned among the role models. And that, he supposed, was only natural, given the circumstances. He shuddered at the thought of Greta one day having a fiancé who didn't want to have anything to do with her love.

"Hey", she said, "you're going to be alright, aren't you? You and Yuuri, this fight, it's all going to go away, and Yuuri is going to fall in love with you like Hube loves Nicola…"

"Greta, I'm tired of hearing of Hube and Nicola!" It was all Wolfram could do not to sound as upset as he felt. "I mean, let's get back to playing, okay?"

Greta was quiet for a moment, then she gave him a quick hug.

"Okay, Wolfram… Love you."

She let go of him, and ran back to her position where she waited for him to throw the baseball again.

Wasn't it ironic that Yuuri didn't love him, but the child he had only adopted because Yuuri wanted to, she did?

He would never have expected it two years ago, but now he knew that Greta was something of the best that had ever happened to him. He only hoped that nothing would change between the two of them as soon as the news were public.

And as long as Greta didn't know – and as long as she didn't ask so many questions – he could at least try to forget about the… situation and pretend that everything was normal. Even if 'normal' never had meant that he had been sure of Yuuri's love, he had at least had some kind of hope that time would get them there…