Heat

Yay ^_^. Thanks a lot, everyone! You guys are so wonderful to keep reviewing.
My life\'s been terrible and hectic lately. This fic seems to make a really good
lifeline, though, so I\'ll definitely hang on to it!

I have good news for you, Moon-Daisuke. And, unfortunately, bad news too.
This story WILL be Seiya/Kakyuu...but don\'t worry. Keep reading, I\'ll make it
worthwhile for all! ^_^ (hopefully! **crosses fingers**)

Deep Serenity: I know! I like Kakyuu \"real\" too. I was just hoping she wouldn\'t
end up, like, monotone x_x. I tend to do that to a character, especially if I
haven\'t written them in a while. But I hope I don\'t! So please, everyone, tell me
if any of the characters are becoming cardboard cutouts.

Seera Sutaa Meikaa: o_o. I don\'t see grammatical errors! o_o Oh well. I\'ll just
let my beta-ed once (or twice) the first four chapters over. She\'s been complaining
she needs something to read lately. x_x

Yeeeees...things begin to get interesting in this chapter. But unfortunately...
**spooky voice** I\'ll never te-e-ell...you need to read to find out!
Hahahahahahaha! Please, please, please R+R ^_^.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*Heat*~

~Chapter Five: Visits~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

\"Princess...what\'s wrong?\"

Seiya\'s voice sounded extremely far away. Almost as if he were trying
to contact her from another dimension. But she couldn\'t respond, she
couldn\'t speak, she could barely even breathe.

The black-haired Senshi was getting nervous now. Kakyuu had done
absolutely nothing but stare at him for the past minute or so. It was
making him edgy. She had, very clearly, told him to move on......or he
thought so, anyway. Was that what she had been trying to tell him? He
wasn\'t sure anymore.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes slightly unfocused. It gave her this
look that was almost...empty. Gently ruffling her deep crimson hair, he
leaned closer. Not too much, of course, just so he could be assured of
her hearing him.

\"Kakyuu-chan, please. You\'re really starting to scare me.\" He said,
letting some of his worry slip into his voice. Hopefully it would snap
her out of her impromptu trance.

She suddenly blinked. Tearing her gaze away from Seiya\'s face, she
rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes as her head began to throb and
the world swirled around her. \"I...\" She began weakly, her voice softer
and more slurred than normal. \"I...I need to go upstairs...get some
rest...\" She turned, intending to head for the stairs, but her feet
slid out from underneath her and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

He very nearly cried out when she crumpled to the floor. She was
his princess, after all, and he was entitled to worry about her. But he
bit his tongue, not wanting to alert the two lovebirds in the other
room. They deserved some peace, especially after the lectures they\'d
been hearing from him over the past few days.

Hurrying forwards, he gently slipped an arm around her shoulders. Her
face was relaxed now, as if she were merely asleep. He sighed in relief.
Her presence was just as strong now as it had been before. So nothing
was wrong. She had just...well...collapsed. Maybe his worries
were well-founded.

He felt a little weird, sitting there with her in his arms, but he
pushed it aside. It seemed rather stupid. Just because he loved her...at
least, he thought he did...didn\'t mean he had to feel
uncomfortable around her. She was, after all, his friend as much as she
was his princess. He picked her up in his arms and carried her up to her
room. Gently laying her down on the bed, he kissed her forehead. \"Sleep
well, Princess. May your dreams be peaceful.\"

He wanted to stay with her. He really wanted to. But he wasn\'t
sure what exactly had happened. A good reason to stay or to leave her
alone. And if he was the cause...somehow...he wasn\'t quite sure what
would happen if he stayed. Maybe it would be better for her to sleep
in peace.

Seiya stood, brushing his black-blue bangs out of his face as he walked
across the hall to his room. He sat down on his bed, reaching over and
picking up his guitar. His hands brushed over a familiar chord.

twang, twang, twang.

\"Tasuketai, sukuitai, ore ni dekiru nara
Inochi sae nagedashite, kimi no tame ni...
Fuan no toki, tsurai toki, ore ga tsuite iru
Itsumo misete ite kure, kimi no egao
Seiya no ore ga kanjiru, fushigi na kimochi
Faitaa no ore ga kanjiru, shimeikan to wa chigatta...
Kitto ginga ichi mibun chigai na kataomoi da ne.\"

As he sang, he felt his heart twist. Was he really destined to be
alone? A tear slid down his cheek as he strummed his guitar absently.
Single life was okay...for a time, anyway. But then you get lonely, and
loneliness is a really terrible feeling.

~Meanwhile...~

\"Whew...I\'m glad we don\'t need to keep this a secret anymore.\" Yaten
murmured, leaning back against Taiki and closing her eyes. He laughed.
\"You and me both. It was absolutely killing me.\" He ruffled her hair
and kissed her cheek. Slipping his arms around her, he proceeded to nip
at her earlobe. \"I really wanted to share how...proud...I was.\"

\"Proud?\" She turned to look at him, confused. \"Of who?\"

\"Of you. And...well...a little proud of myself, too.\" He grinned. \"Of
us, Yaten-chan. And...of her.\" He gently put a hand on her
abdomen, using the other hand to brush silver strands of hair out of
Yaten\'s face. \"No matter what anyone else thinks, I get this feeling
right here...\" He took one of her hands and placed it over his heart.
\"...whenever I think of what we\'ve shared, and...created, I just
feel so...\" He smiled. \"Actually, I\'m not quite sure of what I feel...
exactly. But I feel like I could defend it with everything in me.\"

\"Taiki-chan...\" Her eyes were brimming with tears again. Damn it, she\'d
never cried this much before! Slipping her arms around his waist, she
pulled herself close, burying her face in his shoulder as her eyes
overflowed. \"Damn it all, Taiki! Why do you have to say such things?! I
don\'t think I\'ve ever cried so much in my life!\"

He laughed. Leaning down, he whispered softly in her ear. \"Don\'t worry.
I won\'t tell.\"

She laughed too. Snuggling into him, she cried herself out, just so she
wouldn\'t have to do it again. He gently rocked her back and forth,
making soft shushing noises out of habit. He was used to either one of
them breaking down every once in a while, and for some reason, they\'d
always come to him. He\'d never minded it, though. He certainly didn\'t
mind it now.

A soft, flowery fragrance filled the air. Taiki took a deep breath,
trying to identify it. It wasn\'t olive blossoms, Kakyuu\'s characteristic
scent. Nor roses, a scent shared by all three Starlights. So it wasn\'t
Seiya, either. Who else could it be?

\"I\'m glad some have found love. After what I did, such a short time ago,
the galaxy needs the kind of repair that only love can offer.\"

The soft voice reached his ears and made him look up. What he saw made
him stiffen. He hadn\'t been expecting her!

Yaten turned around, catching sight of the visitor. She blinked. \"What
are you doing here? Isn\'t it kind of dangerous for you to show your
face? I mean, there are people all over the galaxy who want you strung
up by that hair of yours for what you did to their planets.\"

Galaxia chuckled wryly, her long wave of golden and red hair waving
slightly. \"Yes, unfortunately. But I\'ve been trying to repair the damage
as much as I can, visiting with the rulers of each planet. It hasn\'t
been easy to make amends for what I\'ve done, and I\'ve had to agree to
terms with many governments to get them to even believe me.\"

\"Well, unfortunately, that is what you get for destroying nearly
eighty percent of the galaxy.\"

\"Yaten!\" Taiki cried, shocked. He knew the Golden Senshi had reformed,
thanks to Sailor Moon, but still! This woman was the guardian,
and technically, the ruler of, the entire galaxy! It wasn\'t wise
to get her mad at you!

Galaxia\'s crimson eyes merely crinkled in amusement and guilt. \"Don\'t
worry, Maker. I take no offense. In fact, I agree. It\'s exactly what I
deserve. But I\'m hoping to somehow make amends, so that, in time, the
peoples of the galaxy can trust me again. Now, where is Princess
Kakyuu? I want to speak with her.\"

\"Last time we knew, she was in the living room. I\'m not quite sure
she\'s still there, but you could check.\"

The Golden Senshi smiled, her long white dress rustling as she walked
over to them and gently placed a hand on the top of Yaten\'s head. The
silver-haired Senshi shirked from the touch, but suddenly froze, then
glowed the golden colour of Galaxia\'s power. The same power she had
used to kill nearly every Senshi in the galaxy while under the influence
of Chaos. Taiki flinched as her hand came to rest on his head, and
suddenly he felt an electrifying energy race through him. As the wave
of energy left him, his sight went dark. *This is it...gods...no...not
now...not after everything that\'s happened...* His thoughts blanked, and
he knew no more.

\"What did you do to him!?\" Yaten shrieked, her voice on the
knife-edge of hystarical as she kneeled beside her boyfriend. He had
gone limp after whatever Galaxia had done. She held him close, crying
yet again. \"Galaxia, I swear, if you\'ve harmed him in any
way...\"

\"I\'m sorry...I must have miscalculated my gift to him. Maybe you\'re
a little stronger than your friends...I used your limits to create a
sort of...template, for what I did.\" The Golden Senshi kneeled, gently
placing her hand on Yaten\'s cheek. \"Don\'t worry, little mother. He\'ll
be all right. He\'ll ache after he wakes, but the pain will disappear
if he takes it easy for a day or so.\"

\"S-so...you\'re giving this...\'gift\', whatever it is, to all of us?\"
The silver-haired Senshi looked up, confused. \"Why?\"

\"Kind of a...a thank-you gift. A boon, almost, to help the galaxy\'s
Senshi to trust me again. They all tried their hardest to stop my...\"
She paused, trying to find the right words. \"...rampage. Even though
many of them did not succeed, I wanted to reward them for their
courage and devotion to their duties. This seemed to be the best way.\"

Yaten nodded, brushing tears away from her face. \"Please...go talk to
Princess Kakyuu now. And don\'t you dare hurt her, or we\'ll hunt
you down!\"

\"I won\'t...I promise.\" Galaxia grinned uncharacteristically, kissing two
of her fingers and waving them in a very Minako-like gesture. \"Senshi\'s
honour.\" (A/N: Wheee! Go OOC-ness! ^^0000)

\"Just please...go...\"

The Golden Senshi turned and, without another word, left the room. Yaten
looked down at her unconscious boyfriend, brushing auburn strands out
of his face. He moaned softly and stirred, but didn\'t wake. She gently
kissed his forehead. \"I\'m glad you\'re going to be alright, Taiki-chan.\"
She murmured, \"I don\'t know what I\'d do if she had really hurt you...\"

~*~*~

Seiya heard a soft step on the stairs underneath the strumming of his
guitar. Looking up, he saw a familiar face gliding down the hallway
towards his room. He shifted his guitar and stood warily as Galaxia
stepped in, looking around a little.

\"I\'m sorry.\" The Golden Senshi smiled softly. \"I\'m looking for your
Princess. I need to speak with her. Can you tell me where she is?\"

The black-haired teen stood, a little wary. \"No, but I can show you.\"
He walked towards the door and headed for the Princess\'s room. Why was
Galaxia here? He knew she had been healed by Sailor Moon, he had
been there, after all. But it still made him uneasy to know the
Golden Senshi was looking for his Princess.

Which is why he was going to stay with them until this little talk or
whatever it was finished.

Stopping in front of the door, Seiya suddenly remembered something.
\"Oh...wait...she\'s asleep. Could you come back later, when she\'s awake?\"

\"Was she injured?\"

\"Erm...\" The black-haired senshi shifted uneasily. \"Not really. But I
don\'t know if she\'s in the mood to talk.\"

One elegant golden eyebrow quirked over the Golden Senshi\'s crimson
eyes. \"Are you worried I might hurt her, Fighter?\"

Damn it, he hated it when people saw through him like that! He shifted
again, afraid he\'d spark Galaxia\'s temper.

\"Y...yes.\" He finally answered, keeping his eyes on the ground. \"I mean,
it wasn\'t all that long ago that you tried to kill us. You can\'t really
blame me for being apprehensive.\"

\"No...I can\'t.\" She sighed, the folds of her white gown whispering as
they moved. \"You can stay with her, Fighter, until our talks are
finished.\"

\"Thank you.\" The azure-eyed teen gently opened the door, leading Galaxia
inside. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, closing her eyes. He
flinched as he watched himself begin to glow. How...unsettling. He
closed his eyes, waiting for whatever it was to stop. He felt Galaxia\'s
hand lift from his shoulder and opened his eyes to find her walking
towards a seat near the bed. He had, thankfully, stopped glowing.

After warily watching Galaxia repeat whatever she did to him with
Kakyuu, he headed for a seat on the other side of the bed. He wanted to
be close by, just in case. He still didn\'t trust Galaxia entirely, so he
wanted to be someplace where he could keep an eye on what was going on.

~*~*~

A soft moan came from the prone figure on the bed, drawing Yaten\'s
attention. She looked up. \"Taiki?\"

\"Owww....My head...\"

\"Are you okay, Taiki-chan?\" She questioned, coming over and gently
running a few fingers through his hair. He groaned again. \"No. I feel
like I got run over by some form of large vehicle.\"

Yaten laughed, sitting on the bed beside him. \"Yeah, I\'m sure you do.
I\'ll leave you to get some rest while I check in on the Princess.\" She
leaned over and kissed him. \"Stay safe, please. I don\'t like worrying
about you.\"

He smiled sleepily. \"I\'ll try...\"

Soon his breathing was slow and regular. She kissed him one last time
before going to check on the Princess, shivering all the while. This
pregnancy business certainly wasn\'t the most comfortable thing in the
world!

Oh well. She\'d deal with it. And besides, there were plenty more
benifits than downsides. She\'d just have to deal with the bouts of
dizzyness and nausea. They\'d go away soon, anyway.

Walking out of the room, she looked around. There was absolutely no one
in the living room. Drat. She must be upstairs, then. Yaten started up
the stairs, but paused halfway up.

Should she really be this tired yet? She had always thought that
the fatigue started setting in later...like, closer to four or five
months. Ah, well. No one ever said she was right about everything.

Walking over to the door to the Princess\'s room, Yaten peeked in to find
the Golden Senshi sitting beside her. Kakyuu was asleep, and so, it
seemed, was Galaxia. When she scanned them empathically, however, she
found that there was a bond between the two. Ah. So they were talking.
Just...not aloud.

Seiya sat in the corner, watching the two Senshi with wary blue eyes.
When Yaten came in, he glanced at her and waved, but then turned back to
the situation at hand, looking rather tense.

Walking over to him, Yaten put a hand on his shoulder. \"Calm down.\" She
muttered. \"Galaxia\'s not going to hurt the Princess.\"

\"How do you know that??\" The black-haired teen snapped. He then
caught himself with a deep breath. \"Sorry. After she appeared and did
whatever she did to me, I\'ve been a little...edgy.\"

Yaten waved off his apology. \"I\'ve been a little energetic too. And I\'m
still standing in front of you, aren\'t I? If she wanted to kill us, she
could have vaporized Taiki and I when she appeared in the room with us.
It\'s not as if we could have stopped her.\"

\"Nice positive thinking there, Yaten.\" Seiya rolled his azure eyes. He
suddenly started. \"Wait...she did it to you too?\"

\"Both of us. She freaked me out when she somehow accidentally
overdid whatever she did to Taiki. He\'s asleep now...complained that he
felt like he\'d been run over by something big after he woke the first
time, though.\"

Seiya laughed. \"Poor guy. He\'s okay though, right?\"

Yaten nodded, smiling softly. \"Yeah.\"

A sudden sound drew their attention to the bed. Galaxia stood, waving
one hand. A small note appeared there, and she put it down on the
bedside table. Turning, she caught sight of Yaten and Seiya, smiled,
waved and disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(*)- Lyrics from Seiya\'s theme song, just in case you didn\'t know ^.~. Dunno why he was singing it.
**shrugs**

(**)- I\'ve always thought of roses as one of the Lights\' signature scents. Each one of them has
another scent to tell them apart from the others, though. At least, for me ^.~

Gahhh...sorry guys. I know, a terrible place to leave off, especially after not updating for so long T_T
I tried to give you a nice long chapter to compensate, but feel free to make a voodoo doll or two of me
and use it as a pincushion. Or maybe you can get out a bazooka or two and help me blast away this
writer\'s block of mine T_T.

Please, please tell me, is this chapter up to par? I\'ve actually already scrapped it once. The first
version was not only too T/Y oriented, but it was also very clichéd. It was terrible T_T. I\'ll redo it
again if I must, though. **determined look**

Oh, yes, Seera Sutaa Meikaa. I was going to send you the original version of this chapter, but I
scrapped it and wrote this instead. Can I still count on you (or any of my reviewers!) to beta-ed if I
think I need it? Tell me in your reviews!

As always, please R+R. I love to hear your comments! ^_^