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For one reason or another, I couldn't sleep today...tonight...this morning....oh, whatever. The point is, is that I couldn't sleep. I was laying there all night, puzzling over this whole stupid situation. How the hell did this happen in the first place? Something is really wrong with it all, too... I mean, it feels too natural. Like it was meant to happen, you know? As if there were no other way around it. I've given it a lot of thought, despite what Domonic told me (i.e., not to worry about it too much). Since I can't remember anything that happened at the bar that night, I have little choice. I can either ask Ares to use her recall ability on me and see if she can figure out what happened, or I'll have to send my own mind back in time... Yes, I know that may sound weird, and it SOUNDS easy enough...my only problem with doing it is that the spell requires a lot of energy, and it's not exact. Meaning, I could be sent back too far, be unconscious for too long, and majorly damage my brain. ...So, I really don't want to use said spell... And no, Domonic can't use it for me, because it would kill normal humans. And I don't want his death on my hands... I don't want ANYONE else's death on my hands, for that matter.

It's...frustrating. I know Domonic said he didn't care, and that my friends would understand if this didn't wear off soon, but I care. In infuriates me to know that someone would be mad at me, for some reason, enough to do something like this to me. Of course, I also thought up a different reason for what happened: a mistake. A complete and honest mistake that fate and destiny decided to screw me over with. Right after... right after I had made my decision about a child, as well. I'd been toying with the idea for a long time now, and with Domonic here...I had a chance, right? I could see if it would be true about my other side. I could see if, being only half light demon, my survival percentage after birth would be greater. ...That I could carry on my heritage without dying right after. I've lived on this world long enough to test this theory now. With Domonic giving me hope of love, I could see what happens.

Only now, this is impossible until I turn back to normal. ...What is normal? What if all along, I'd really been a man instead of a woman? .....Yeah, right. And I was born yesterday. The idea of adoption also came up...and I think that would be a good idea, as well. Maybe we could adopt a child, and see what it's like to be parents before becoming "true" ones. And no, my feien and other pets aren't chopped liver. They'll always be my little babies... ALWAYS. However, they're not a part of my own blood, and as far as I know, I could very well be the last one with this blood. I have yet to explain Domonic's little transformation from when we fought Shadow a little over a month ago. He IS human...isn't he?

Well, enough talk about me. At least I can still get chatty...must mean that I haven't lost my feminine side completely. Amongst the worries I have of myself, I've gained one more person to grow worried about. ...Maybe in a way, two people. Tahki, and Merri.

Tahki's been home a lot less as of late, and I end up getting worried sick about where she might be. Though, while I'm sure she's just at the shop, one can never know when you're only less than 4" tall. Yesterday, Tahki came home rather late, and was probably just lucky that I hadn't gone to bed yet (and attempt to sleep, at least). She, apparently, "likes somebody", though I could swear it was more of a love, and not just a like. As I said because...I doubt she fully understands the concept of love, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. So...she likes Talonfaust. I'll be honest when I say that I wasn't expecting that, because quite frankly, I wasn't. Karma seemed to have deemed him crazy when I had met her and the little white feien, and now, almost a month later, she makes this conclusion? Well...it's not like I can deny her decision, right? I just hope she doesn't get hurt like Ares had when she declared her first love.

Now, why would I be worried about Merri, you might be asking. Well, diary (wow...I think that may be the first time I started talking to you...), I'll start off with the good news. His recovery from the incident from about 2 or so weeks ago is going very very nicely, and I think he may be even leaving the house when Ares goes off to visit Ruya tomorrow. Also, he's trusting me more, and is actually doing things with me. (The other day, he asked me to teach him a card game...and after that, he even asked me to play the piano so he could listen.) While all of this is very good and is making me happy, there's a few things that have been bothering me. Merri looks rather paranoid of a lot of things, especially if he's alone even for a moment. He gets creeped out by the droning sound a bug makes, he's decided that he hates the colors red, yellow, and brown (and has tried to paint his wings more than once. I think I've finally convinced him to stop...), and he also has an incredible fear of spiders. ...Why spiders I have no idea, but he's mostly afraid of the ones he noticed from "recalling" a spider's web. (I guess he was curious, because I know he's normally not that stupid. He's also seen some spiders in the trees from the wood that he recalls. Poor feien...) And the "anything bigger than me" fear still stands, but he's gotten a lot better. He'll at least give most things chances before turning them completely down...

I guess what worries me about him is that he's keeping himself locked away. As if the world betrayed him without meaning to, whatever happened that one time he went out on his own. I suppose fate and destiny must of played their cards again when it happened, and he suffered quite a bit for it. No...he had the WORST suffering for it: nothing is more painful than emotional suffering, as the scars of one's emotions hardly ever heal. I mean...when he came back that night with Nero, his head was a little tender, but other than that there wasn't any physical damage. Only emotional... I still wish I knew what happened. He won't let Ares use her recall ability on him, and he's always assuring Tahki of the same two damn things: "It's not your fault," and "One day, you'll be able to protect someone. But it won't be me." ...It won't be him... I think that whatever happened that day, he might not have been the only one involved. Tahki's mouth is shut...the only thing she said was that Nero was there too. Nero...he wouldn't hurt his brother. Then...what could have happened?? ...I'll figure it out, one day. I'll figure out what happened, and then I'm gonna...I don't know what I'd do. But whatever happens, I WILL get to the bottom of all of this. One way or another.

...I think I've bored you enough, diary. And it sounds like Domonic's up, so I think I'll talk to him about something more personal I've had in mind. Maybe this time, I'll actually get around to talking about it...

Ares glided along the street, flapping her blue and black wings every so often as her red eyes glanced at the houses she passed, beginning to feel a little drained from flying for so long. Why couldn't she find the house? She wanted to see Ruya, and it was as if the streets alone were keeping her from doing so. Fortunately for her, she was persistant, and wasn't about to give up without some sort of fight.

That was, until she found a house that looked rather familiar. Having only seen Kam's house twice before to deliver gifts, she had almost passed it when she recognized the door somehow. Well, there was no use in not trying. Flitting up to the large door, the feien raised a hand to attempt a knock before remembering how quiet that would be. Running her hand through her short blue hair instead, Ares looked around for a moment, wondering if there might have been a doorbell somewhere. Ah! There it was...

Moving herself to the doorbell, Ares placed both of her hands on the little button. She was a little hesitant, but she pushed down, hopefully ringing the bell, and waited to see what would happen.

When the rather loud doorbell rang, Ruya was in the middle of trying to figure out a particularly nasty integral. Her concentration broken by the sound she snarled and hopped off the desk, ready to yell at whoever had broken the silence.

As she flew down the stairs, she remembered that she still hadn't devised a way to open the door. Turning to face back up the stairs, she yelled for Kam.

"Kam! Doorbell!"

Kam, who had just skidded into the foyer from the living room winced at Ruya shrill voice before opening the door.

"Hello?"

There didn't seem to be anyone there for a moment and then Kam spotted Ares.

"Hello? Are you here to see Sunil or Ruya?"

She said it before she spotted the third eye and realized who this must be. Resolving to get more sleep, Kam gestured for Ares to come into the house.

"Ares, correct? You'll want to see Ruya, who I believe is right here."

After Kam moved, Ruya was finally able to see who had been at the door and rushed over to hug her mother, her earlier irritation at being interrupted forgotten.

"Hello mother! How are you?"

Ares raised her brow a little bit when the doorbell sounded, wondering how it could be so loud. Mumbled cries, and then the door opening, only to have been confused for someone else. Until, of course, the human had said her name. Nodding her head a little bit, the black and blue feien floated into the house, and was immediatetly greeted by her daughter. Ah...just who she wanted to see.

"Hello, child," she said softly as she smiled, hugging the little feien gently. "It had been so long since I heard from you, so I thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing. I've been...well enough. What about you, Ruya? How have you been? Has everything been all right?"

Kam shut the door as Ares came in and then beat a hasty retreat. It wouldn't be polite to spy on Ruya and her mother.

Ruya shook her head slightly as her mother asked how she was.

"No, I haven't been all that well. I realized that I don't know who I am or what I am here for. What is my long term goal in life?"

Ruya sighed and then remembered her manners.

"I'm sorry, I haven't even asked you if you'd like anything to eat or offered you a place to rest. We can sit on the couch if you'd like, " Ruya gestured just off to the side into the living room where an ugly orange couch sat.

At least her daughter was well mannered over guests. However, she didn't have to with family, Ares felt. Gently resting a hand on Ruya's head, she smiled down at her.

"I'm quite all right, Ruya," she said quietly, her tail flinching a little bit, "but if you'd like to sit, we can sit."

She glanced around the room for a moment, taking in the surroundings. It certainly wasn't anything like Neko's home, that was for sure, but it was still quite nice. Thinking back to what Ruya was saying, she wondered why she was worried about such a thing.

"Ruya, why do you seem worried about where your life should be leading? What do you mean, you don't know who you are?"

Ruya flew slowly over to the couch and touched down on one of the arms. She had been working on her flying endurance, but it still was very low.

"I mean I don't know what I want from life. I mean Sunil has goals and projects. She has a purpose. I don't have anything to work towards. I don't know what to do with myself. I don't even have magic."

Ruya smiled sadly before continuing.

"I'm sorry to bother you with this, I feel like such a child."

Ares followed after Ruya, folding her wings down over her shoulders as she landed near the small feien. So she was trying to take examples from Sunil? It made sense, as she was the only feien really around here...

"Sweety, everyone has magic," she tried to explain, sitting down on the arm of the couch. "We can't live without it. And trust me...if Merri has it, you do, too. If you'd like, perhaps we could practice a little bit."

Upon the last comment, Ares closed her three eyes, bowing her head a little bit. "It's okay to feel like a child. You technically are still one, even though you've grown so much, but you will always by my child. You can talk to me about anything you want to, Ruya. I'm supposed to be there for you...and I'm sorry that I haven't been. I love you just as much as I love your brothers..."

"Of course you've been here for me, it isn't your fault I live so much farther away. And I suppose I would like to practice magic. At least enough to know what sort of magic I can do."

Ruya ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"But once again I don't know what I'll do with myself. Do you have any hobbies mother?"

"Hobbies?" Ares echoed aloud, thinking for a moment. "Well, I like to weave...and sewing it kind of fun. I love to read, and when I'm not doing any of those things I'll meditate and practice my magic."

Opening her eyes, she looked to her daughter, folding her hands in her lap. "I guess you could say that, according to books and history, I could be considered some sort of "house mom", but without the cleaning. However, I don't like stereotypes, and I just do as I please. What about yourself?"

Ruya sighed and thought for a moment.

"I take care of all the pixapets, which is sometimes more of a chore than anything else and lately I have started studying math. Its nice, but it gets frustrating sometimes when I can't figure something out. I think I need something like your weaving, something where I make something. How did you discover your magic? I asked Sunil once and she just ignored me."

Ruya frowned and briefly glanced over at the stairs to the upstairs. She could only hope Sunil was too busy to be spying on them right now.

"Well, for the longest time, I didn't think that I had any magic, either," she said softly, closing her eyes once again as she remembered the way she'd found out about her abilities. "The first time I became aware, I was with Arturo. We were talking, and when I touched him, I saw a piece of his past within my mind. At first, I didn't understand what was going on...I didn't know how it happened, it just DID. I couldn't control it, either, until I started practicing."

Ares sighed lightly, her tail curling around herself a little bit. "I'm not sure if it works that way with all feien, but my magic seemed to have just appeared one day. Sometimes I'll gain new abilities, but they just come to me. It's like a natural instinct you can't completely control. However, if you concentrate hard enough, you can turn it on and off."

Ruya ran her hand through her hair again and frowned a little.

"So I might just suddenly find out I have magic? I don't really like the idea of that. How do I learn to control it?"

Ares couldn't help but smirk slightly, opening her eyes halfway. "By practicing," she explained. "You may have the same ability as I do, to see into one's past. I discovered that Merri has it, and I haven't checked with Nero about it yet."

"To see into someone's past? Interesting. Did Merri just stumble into his power like you did?"

Ares nodded slowly, remembering how scared Merrimack had gotten when he first discovered it. It's not easy to calm someone down who thought that their mind was being possessed by something.

"I have a feeling that you would take it much easier than he did, however," she said softly, smiling slightly.

Ruya smiled and nodded.

"Indeed, I am not quite so scared of things as Merrimack can be. Perhaps I don't spend enough time around people to know of my power. I have spent a great deal of time alone recently."

She ran her hand through her hair again and made sure it was tucked behind her ears.

"Maybe I can get Kam to let me practice on her. I assume it works on humans..."

"Mm, yes...it works on anything, actually," she explained. "Humans, demons, flowers, trees...you name it, you can see its past. It might not come right away at first, and it may not make sense, but with practice the images will become clearer."

Sighing lightly, Ares thought for a moment, wondering what else she could say. "So...have you and Sunil been getting along?"

Ruya frowned and once again glanced up the stairs.

"No. She was gone for a while at Maquinar and Quantel's house and just returned. For the most part she avoids me, but I see her lurking around a lot. I think she is working on something, which is never good news. Kam said you and Sunil were once friends..."

Ruya trailed off making the statement more of a question.

Ares nodded, scratching her head a little bit before resting her hand on the back of her neck. Idly, she looked to the flower-gem bracelet she always wore around her right wrist, a symbol to her of her youth.

"Yes, we were once," she said calmly. "However, things changed...we grew up, and everything was different. That's the only explination I can think of."

"I see."

Ruya decided not to pry farther. She really couldn't picture her mother and Sunil ever getting along. In fact she really couldn't picture Sunil and anyone getting along. But in the end it was none of her business.

"So I assume Merrimack is well? Are Nero and father also well?"

"Last time I was able to check on them, yes, they seemed to be doing alright," she assured her. "And Merri...I guess could be better, but he's working on that."

Ares felt that it wasn't nessecary to explain the events that had happened to her brother, especially when she didn't know all of the details herself.

Ruya nodded, happy to know her family was still all doing well. She was out of topics so she leaned forward to hug her mother.

Ares smiled, hugging her daughter back and gently smoothing her short hair. She almost wasn't looking forward to her children growing up, as she'd miss being able to do this.

"Are you feeling any better? Have I been able to help at all?" she asked, her tail thumping once lightly against the arm of the couch.

"Yes, I do feel a little better. I'm probably not a freak feien with no magic and I don't have to change the world to lead a fulfilling life."

Ruya closed her eyes and relaxed, feeling truly at home in her mother's arms.

Ares couldn't help but laugh a little bit, resting her head lightly against the child feien's.

"Even if you didn't have magic, you wouldn't be a freak. You're my beautiful little girl," she told her quietly, holding her a little closer. "And who knows, maybe one day you will change the world with something that do you. And if not the whole world, then maybe the feien world, hm?"

Tilting her head a little bit, she planted a soft kiss on Ruya's head. "I'm proud of you no matter what, you know. Just remember that I'll always love you."

Ruya closed her eyes and drew in a big breath.

"Thanks mom. I'll always love you too."

"What...is it?"

"I don't know, but it's kind of...creepy."

"Creepy? It looks like anything but."

"I think it's ADORABLE!!" Tahki hugged the blue and white notion gently, ignoring the fact that it wanted to get away.

"Of course you would...you think anything is cute," Merrimack sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Merri..." Ares shook her head, her wings folding down over her shoulders.

"What??"


Neko couldn't help but chuckle outside of the door, listening to his feien gawk at the new creature he had brought home over night; something called a notion. While it would seem to disappear every so often, it was really just hiding in Neko's head at times, which felt very odd to him. ...Anything being inside of his head had to be odd, anyway. His tail flicked a little bit, ears twitching slightly as he heard footsteps from behind.

"I don't care what you say about it, Miki's staying," he said quietly, closing his eyes as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. He leaned back against Domonic gently, resting his own hands on top of the human's.

"I wasn't going to say anything," Domonic sighed, resting his chin lightly on Neko's shoulder. "Though I'm curious as to what made you find something to live in your mind. You hate any invasion of your thoughts."

Neko opened her eyes halfway, listening once again to the conversation happening in the other room.


"Okay okay, it's not creepy!" Merrimack cried, hiding behind his mother. "Now keep it away from me!"

Tahki blinked a few times, wondering why the smaller feien was so afraid of the little notion. It was smaller than he was! Possibly about as big as one of the tiny plushies they had...if not a little bigger. Miki blinked a few times, its tail swishing as it stopped struggling in Tahki's hands, realizing the feien wasn't going to cause any harm.

"Don't worry, Miki! Merri's just a scardy cat," the cold feien smiled, facing the notion toward herself again, her wings drawing close to her back. "I don't know why he'd be afra--"

"I am NOT afraid!" he protested, peering out from behind Ares. The blue and black feien sighed quietly, rolling her eyes as her tail lightly bopped Merrimack on the head. "...Okay, so I am. How do I know it's not going to bite me or anything??"

"Bite?" Miki piped up, blinking a few times. "Bite bite? MI!"

Ares reached a hand towards the little notion, gently touching its head. Miki only smiled, its tail curling up happily.

"See, its not going to bite you," she assured her son, stepping out of the way so that he couldn't hide behind her anymore. "Think of it like a kitten. Only...it probably will end up talking more than Winter does."


Neko looked over at Domonic, who still had his head on his shoulder. "I suppose it's something I'll have to get used to, now isn't it?" he explained, hardly able to see him with his right eye being covered by his headband.

Domonic turned his blue eyes to look at the demon hanyou's, still trying to get used to the cosplay Neko insisted on dressing up in. How long would it be kept up, anyway? Not that he really minded, but it was starting to get annoying to only see one eye.

"There's something you’re not telling me," he sighed, releasing Neko before making him turn around to face him. "It has something to do with that big rock you got about a month ago, doesn't it? I can feel some sort of energy in that thing."

Neko stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, his tail lashing to the left once. Why did he have to be interrogated on the things he owned all of the time? So he liked artifacts and magic books... Did that really matter? Though, with everything he did own, it was a mystery as to why they didn't try to find a spell to turn him back into a woman. Ignoring the question, the demon hanyou looked up at the human, his own thought coming to mind.

"There's a lot of things you don't tell me, either, Domonic," was his final retort. "For instance, why do you have a relic in your possession? An angelic one, no less."

Domonic sighed in defeat, shaking his head as he turned to leave down the hallway.

Neko reached out a gloved hand from his pocket, quickly grasping onto his lover's white-sleeved arm. "Dom..."

He stopped, looking over his shoulder at the other man. Hesitating for a moment, he turned back around, running a hand through his short blonde hair.

"Right now, I can't tell you everything," Domonic told him, looking rather apologetic. "One day, I will. One day, I'll know everything myself, and I can tell you everything you could possibly want to know."

"You didn't come here on your own, did you?" Neko asked, still determined. "Someone sent you, didn't they? Who sent you?"

Domonic bit his lower lip softly, looking away for a moment before shaking his head slowly.

"I can't tell you right now," he said again. Taking a step closer to the other, he gently placed his hand against his cheek. "But you have to trust me." Leaning over, Domonic kissed Neko softly on the lips.

"Everything will be clear soon. I promise," he assured him before turning again, walking down the hallway, and making his way down the stairs.

Neko watching him leave, his un-pocketed hand clenching into a tight fist, his tail lashing once more before calming down. Relaxing his hand, the demon hanyou turned around once more and leaned against the wall lightly, his ears twitching as he listened to his feien.


"Mi!" Miki piped up, squirming free from Tahki's grasp finally and landing on the desktop. It began to skitter around, looking curiously at the pixacats and pixapups that were scattered around.

"Be careful, Miki!" the cold feien giggled, wandering after the notion.

Ares patted Merrimack lightly on the head, bringing him out from behind her once more. "Tahki, make sure it stays away from the paint and dust," she called out to the other feien before looking down at her son. "Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should take a nap for a bit..."

Merrimack scrunched up his nose as he watched the little creature, not paying too much attention to his mother. "Maybe later," he said, distracted. "I have to make sure that thing really isn't going to try to eat me."

She shook her head slowly, rolling her three eyes. "As you wish," she stated, looking on as Tahki chased after the notion.

A humid, wet day. Arturo was still trying to adjust to this type of weather. Back when he lived in Connecticut, humidity did not even factor into his world.

When the sun peeked out of the clouds, it was scorching. Arturo was thankful for his light coloring, otherwise this flight would, no doubt, be far more difficult. At last, his destination was in sight. A house that had become almost estranged recently, as he had not had the chance to visit it for a while.

Landing neatly on the windowsill, Arturo rapped his knuckles against the pane, then crossed his arms over his chest. His expression was expectant. He was fairly certain that Ares would be home, since he had checked for her at the shop first.

Tahki, of course, was sitting by the window, and nearly rolled off at the sudden sound. Picking herself up, but not being smacking her head against the wall, she did her best to try to open the window being seeing who it was.

"MMmmmmph! Neko needs to do something about this one getting stu--ACK!!" she started to grumble, but then went flying backwards as she managed to push the window up much further than she intended.

"What is it, Tahki?" Ares asked, not looking up from her book. She was on the desk, standing over the pages to read.

Peeking over the edge of the sill, she blinked her yellow eyes a couple of times before smiling. "It's an Arturo!" she declared with a giggle.

Of course, that would get her to leave her book. Stepping off of the large knowledge source, Ares walked to the edge of the desk, peering toward the window curiously. "Arturo?" she called out.

Arturo stepped lightly into the room, arms clasped behind his back. "Indeed," he replied, smiling. He couldn't help raising an eyebrow at Tahki, who reminded him so much of that nuisance Gogol, but his attention was soon back on Ares. He fluttered closer to her, expression emotionless but eyes warm.

Seeing Ares always cheered him up.

"I've missed you," he muttered, brushing his thumb over her cheek. Mentally, he willed Tahki to leave.

Hmmm, maybe that worked. Tahki's eyes caught sight of a rather beautiful orange and black color, fluttering past the window. "Butterfly!" she cried out before zooming out of the window to chase after it.

Ares smiled slightly, her black and blue wings fidgeting on her shoulders a little bit. "I missed you, as well," she told him, nuzzling her cheek against his hand a little bit. "How have you been doing?

Arturo was silent for a moment, lips pursed slightly in thought. After a bit, he took her hand and led her to the window sill, sitting down. The sun was warm on his back, making his bright feathers glisten slightly.

"I'm well enough," he replied, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. He decided not to bring up Nero's condition. Best not to worry Ares. "I was just thinking that it had been a while since I last saw you. So - I came."

He turned his face towards her, smiling faintly. "And you, Ares?"

Ares folded her bi-colored wings back down over her shoulders as she sat down, her tail curling around herself a little bit. She thought for a moment, folding her hands in her lap, as if it were a puzzling question. In reality, she was just trying to decide if Arturo was being truthful about his answer or not.

"I've been all right," she finally said, nodding her head a little bit. "Not too much has been happening around here...but I got to see Ruya recently, so I'm satisfied that all of our children seem to be okay at the moment."

"How is she?" Arturo asked, turning to Ares. "I rarely see her. Nero and I both miss her." He paused, then continued, without waiting for Ares' answer. "I am glad to hear that you are doing well, Ares. And Merri? He's all right, too? Is he here?" Arturo looked around, wondering where his son was.

"She seems to be all right. She seemed to be a little lonely before I got there, but I think things are okay now," she said, also looking around for a moment, trying to see if Merri was there or not. "And Merri...I think he's somehow gotten a new friend. Merri??"

She waited for a moment before calling out again, just to be sure. "Merri, are you still here?"

"Mmmph..." came a mumbled reply from the desk, one of the drawers open a little bit.

Ares raised a brow before turning her three red eyes back to Arturo. "I think he's sleeping..."

Arturo chuckled. "A real whirl of activity around here," he drawled, shaking his head. He'd see Merri later. It was better this way, privacy with Ares.

"Ares, I have a favor to ask of you," he said slowly, tapping the tips of his fingers together.

Ares glanced at his hand gesture, wondering what that action might have been for. "Yes?" she piped up, stretching her arms out for a moment.

"I need to return to Connecticut for a while. A week from now, it's Caterina's one-year summonday. I'd like to visit her grave." A deep breath, then Arturo continued. "And I'd like for you to accompany me. You don't have to if you feel that it would be awkward, or if you're unwilling to leave Merri - I understand. But I'd be honored if you came," he said, giving her a slight smile.

Ares blinked a few times, her tail thumping against the windowsill lightly. He wanted her to come with him? Looking over to the desk again, she wondered what Merrimack might think of that. Though, it was really her decision, wasn't it? She couldn't limit herself to everything he demanded... Her life wouldn't exist if she did that. Thinking about it for a moment, the time feien lifted a hand to run her fingers though her short blue hair, resting her hand on the back of her neck. It would be a good chance to be with Arturo, and she would get a chance to see his home, just as she wanted to. Just as...he wanted her to.

"How long will we be gone?" she finally asked, looking up at him as she smiled a little bit.

"It'll take a while to get there," Arturo replied, remembering how long it took for him to fly down. Then again, he was dying at that point, and carrying a book. This time it would be much easier.

"If I had a guess? A week to get there, stay a day or two to rest and 'see' Caterina, then a week to get home. So, a while."

She was smiling. A good sign. He rewarded the gesture with a smile of his own, warmer than usual, and bent forward to kiss her slightly. "It's a really beautiful flight, really. I couldn't really appreciate it when I flew down, but it's very interesting to see everything gradually change." he commented, drawing back.

Ares closed her eyes partially as he kissed her, looking up at him as he drew away. She was always rather partial to scenery...and if what he said was true, then that was fine by her.

"I would love to accompany you, Arturo," she agreed officially, nodding a little bit. "When do you plan to leave?"

"Soon. Possibly tomorrow. I have some business to attend to first, but it shouldn't be too hard," he replied, grinning. Ares' agreement to come had really just made his day. "When that's done - whenever you're ready is fine."

He leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers again. "Thank you," he muttered quietly against her mouth.

Ares closed her eyes for a moment, finding herself blush at the feel. Reaching a hand over, she gently laid hers on top of his, her red lips curling up into a slight smile.

"I'll be ready whenever you are," she assured him.

"I'll come for you soon," he promised, shifting his hand so he could hold hers in his. "Then we'll go."

Sighing, Arturo stood up, gently pulling Ares up with him. "But I need to go. Arrangements to be made and the like." One final kiss before he dropped her hand and turned to the window. "I'll be back as soon as I'm able," he called, the dropped from the sill.

Ares kissed him back and waved after him. "I'll be waiting, then," she called out.