Shion did what he had promised Nezumi he would do.

He freed the prisoners of the wild tribes, giving them back some of their lands so that they could be free of the kingdom completely. He cracked down on military expansion, preventing more wars, and promoting the peace the kingdom should have had years ago. He ended prison cruelty, so that no one would ever have to endure the torment the wild tribes suffered ever again. And he did all of this in a couple of months.

Over and over again the council would ask him, "When can we finally celebrate your coronation?" "What about a wedding?"

Every time Shion said the same thing.

"That isn't what I'm here for. I just want to work."

Then, at night, Shion would spend all his time in his room alone.

Usually he read. Books were starting find their way into stacks on his floor again, like when he was younger, and most of the library was finding it's way into his room.

But… on some nights, if someone would have passed outside his room they would have heard him talking.

No one ever responded. He just talked. About his day, about his thoughts, sometimes he would even ask questions that would go unanswered. Yet, he would still wait for a moment, in silence, as if someone might suddenly speak out of thin air.

Those nights were the worst ones.

A least until the nightmare started.

It was always the same. Shion dreamt he was slowly sinking down into a dark, frozen lake. The deeper he got, the more freezing it became and the more pressure seemed to be pushing him down, making the cold water sink into his veins.

He never touched the bottom, he just sank, and when he looked up he could see the fading light of a bright moon steadily disappearing overhead.

When he woke up, after nights like this, Shion was never startled. He was somber. Because the dream never made him feel like he was going to die, just that he was already gone, and all that was left was to wait for the torment to be over too.

Everyone noticed the change in Shion. But most people thought he had become apathetic, that he no longer wanted to feel anything, so he buried himself in his work. They were wrong.

Shion did feel, he felt everything. That was why he worked. The more he worked, the more time would speed by, and the quicker the days would pass. And for Shion, everyday that passed was one day closer to seeing Nezumi again.

And the days did go by. Three months went by. Nothing changed.

Finally, it was Safu who decided to do something.

"Shion?"

She caught him in between dinner and leaving to go to his room. When he turned to look at her, she could see the surprise and impatience in his eyes, like she'd yanked him from a dream.

"Oh hi, Safu. Is something wrong?"

Safu shifted and sighed. "Can we have a talk?"

Shion blinked, "Sure…"

"Privately?" She added, looking awkwardly around the dining room. Shion's eyebrows furrowed.

"Sure," Shion waved a hand. "We can sit in the parlor."

They walked silently down the hall. Safu chewing her lips nervously and Shion took on the distant look in his eyes– that was more ever-present lately.

Shion shut the door to the parlor when they arrived. A bright warm fire was burning in the hearth and the light from it danced over the sofa, casting shadows on the wall.

Shion sat down. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Safu moved to sit beside him. Sitting stiffly and folding her hands in her lap.

"Shion…" Safu began carefully. "Who was Nezumi to you?"

Shion's entire body went still.

Safu could tell by the look on Shion's face that she'd cracked something. He looked like he was barely holding back his reaction.

"I'm sorry," Safu said gently. "It's just… I don't understand. I can tell he was something important… but you never told me. Somehow I feel like… it might just be better if I knew, and maybe it would help you to talk about him."

Shion's face lowered, so that he was looking down at his hands on his legs. They were balled into fists.

"Nezumi was…" Shion's voice broke and he had to clear his throat. "He…"

"Why don't you just start from the beginning?" Safu offered, and Shion looked up into her eyes. He looked nervous, and fragile. He pressed his lips together.

"All right," Shion took a deep breath, and he carefully began his story.

He told her about Nezumi, about meeting him as a child, about Hamlet, about his surprise at finding him again. He told her about fighting, about Nezumi's way of always teasing him, and about the beautiful way that he would sing.

He didn't tell her everything. Not everything was something that he wanted to tell. But he did tell her the most important things. About how much he loved him. About about how he had left.

When he'd finished, Safu was looking at him. Her eyes were wet, and she had to press her lips together to stop them from trembling. She reached out for Shion's hand.

"I had no idea," She said eventually, when they two them had pulled themselves together enough to speak. "I'm so sorry, Shion."

For a long time, they just sat together. Not speaking, while Safu gave Shion time to calm down and to breath.

Then suddenly something unexpected found it's way out of her mouth.

"You don't want this Shion. So why are you here?"

As soon as she said it Shion's head snapped up to look at her with wide startled eyes.

Safu held up her hands in surrender, "I'm so sorry, I just… You're so unhappy…"

"It isn't right for me to let other people's lives fall apart because I don't want this," Shion said, carefully, sadly. "I can't do that. I care what happens to this kingdom. I can't just turn my back on it. I couldn't ask Nezumi to give up his life for this kingdom, but I also can't turn my back on this kingdom just because of Nezumi."

Safu expression softened, "And there's no third option?"

"If I can change this kingdom for the better," Shion said, with a desperate passion, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, "If I can make it good, and self sufficient then they won't need me anymore. But change like that… It takes time. So I'm working. I'm going to work every second until I get there, so that someday…" Shion sighed. "Someday I'll have a chance…"

Safu looked into the fire.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I just wish it didn't have to be you."

Shion followed her gaze, the light of the fire sweeping through the blacks of his eyes.

"It's my burden," Shion said. "It's my job to see it through."

Safu suddenly widened her eyes.

"What if you didn't," Safu said suddenly. "If all you need is for the kingdom's peace to become self sufficient, isn't there a way you could get them to do that on their own?"

Shion turned to look her. "What do you mean?"

Safu shrugged, "Well… if you found someone else who believed as you do, couldn't you trust them to take your place?"

Shion narrowed his eyes.

"That might only be a temporary fix," Shion said, "I want do something that is going to help the people permanently. I want them to have a chance to ask for what's best for them. Even I might not know what that is all the time. But at least I'm willing to listen to them. There's no guarantee that if I appointed someone else that they would do the same."

Safu sighed, "I understand. But someday you won't be able to help them either Shion. What are you going to do then?"

Shion let out a breath.

"I don't know," He confessed, shaking his head. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Over the next few weeks, Shion thought that Safu's talk hadn't really helped him. If anything… it only brought up the nagging insecurity that it didn't matter what he did. He would never be able to leave this place, and he would never be with Nezumi again.

It wasn't until a council meeting three weeks later that he realized he was wrong.

They were sitting around talking about food distribution, and Shion had asked the council to come to him with their decision, but there was a huge rift between them on what to do, so finally one of them suggested…

"Why don't we just vote on it?"

Shion sighed, "I wanted you guys to do some actual research on the kingdoms regions. Where has the population grown? Where are there shortages? For heaven's sake I'd rather hear the people vote on it than–,"

Shion's eyes widened.

He had read about democracies, letting the people decide for themselves. He had always admired them. He liked the idea of people having a real say in things, of people being ruled by themselves. The best for the greatest number. But he knew why it wasn't feasible.

An entire kingdom can't come together and vote. There are too many people, too much space… but still…

That night Shion talked to Safu again.

"It's a good idea, Shion." Safu sighed, "But I don't see how you're going to make it work."

Shion sighed.

"What if we did it in stages?" Shion murmured. "Villages vote for representatives who represent them in a council for their region. Region Councils vote for representatives to sit on a kingdom wide council… then the councils could rule the country, and the people would have a say."

Safu looked at him.

"That…." She blinked, "could really work."

Shion felt a jump inside his stomach. "You think so?"

Safu nodded. "But Shion….. You realize what you're doing is risky? It's going to change everything."

A slow wild-eyed smile spread over Shion's face.

"I know," He said with a shocked, half-hysterical laugh. "That's the point."

It had been seven months since Nezumi had seen Shion when he heard the news.

He was staying at an inn, in a village near the kingdom's southern border. He had been working at the inn's pub for a couple of weeks, trying to replenish his somewhat desperately diminished funds. He was also staying in a free room upstairs, as long as he agreed to sing in the pub on weekends without extra pay. Nezumi didn't really mind. He hadn't sung in a while, and without incentive he worried he never would.

It was while he was cleaning dishes off the tables one evening that the news broke.

The pub's door burst open, slamming into a wall as a boy in a Harold's uniform stumbled breathlessly inside.

Everyone in the pub turned to look at him, and the room fell silent. The boy panted, red faced from running before looking up with brilliant, excited eyes.

"King Shion is abolishing the monarchy!"

Nezumi nearly dropped his plates.

There was a collective gasp, and a moment later a wave of excitement crested the room as murmurs and worry spread.

Nezumi stood still in the center of the room grasping his plates.

Then slowly…. he smiled.

It took another two months to make the necessary changes, but Shion refused to stop working until it was done.

In the end, they made the decision to hold a party at the palace to signify the beginning of elections. They would be sending out officials from the palace to start the election process in all of the villages and keep the voting fair. The party was also to celebrate Shion's last few nights on the throne.

Shion had no way to contact Nezumi, but he insisted that news of the party be spread all around the kingdom for weeks before it was taking place.

When it was finally time, Shion had never felt so nervous in his life.

What if Nezumi didn't come back for him? What if he had left the kingdom? What if he had moved on? What if he never wanted to comeback for Shion in the first place?

All these thoughts had Shion nearly falling apart the evening before the party.

His mother came to his rescue.

"Shion, calm down," she said, sitting him down in a chair and starting to fuss with his hair. Shion made a pouty face and she laughed.

"He'll find you," she promised him, "I know that he will."

Shion let out a breath.

"But what if–,"

Karen put a hand over his mouth.

"Stop it! Just have faith," She smiled, "I believe in Nezumi. Don't you?"

Shion's eyes widened.

Then he smiled.

"Yeah," He smiled wider. "Yeah. I do."

Karen return the smile. "I know you do," She said and she gave Shion a hug.

So Shion went to the party that night.

He still didn't like parties. So he found himself mostly standing on the side of the room and smiling at people when they came up to talk to him– that or pushing wine into the hands of people who came up to try and argue with him.

About half way through the night, though, Shion's confidence started to waver.

He jumped whenever someone called his name. His eyes shifted constantly around the room. He consistently considered just leaving so that he would calm down and stop getting his hopes up.

In fact, he was just about to try and slide carefully through the crowd and out the door when a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Well, well," the voice said, making Shion's spine instantly stiffen. "You decided to change the kingdom's entire government, just so you can chase some hot piece of ass? You might need to look at your priorities."

Shion swallowed.