The following story is a followup to my previous "Erlosung," "Rache" and "Spielen." It contains spoilers for eps. 4-up. As in my other stories, the guys have their own places instead of living together atop the flower shop.
"Okay, ladies...we're going to be closing in fifteen minutes."
Yohji gently shooed some of the high school girls in the direction of the door. It was only 2:15 in the afternoon, much earlier than the flower shop's usual closing time...but, then again, it was the day before Christmas.
"But Yohji," one of the girls giggled, "we have to give you our presents." She reached into her bookbag and took out four small, wrapped boxes.
Ken, who was counting the money in the till, raised his head at that one. Presents? he thought. They brought us presents? The rock-groupie mentality they have is getting a little out of hand.
"I have presents for you, too," another girl said, handing over a large red-foil gift bag fairly bursting with green tissue paper and tinsel.
"Thanks," Yohji said. "But I'm afraid I have nothing for you. I can't let such pretty girls give and get nothing back..."
I'll bet he can't, Ken thought, watching Yohji present the girls with two of the few unsold poinsettias in the store. They squealed and giggled, eyes aglow.
Ken finished what he was doing, made a note of the final tally and shut the drawer. He couldn't wait to get out of there. He and Omi were going into town for some last-minute grocery shopping - the two of them had volunteered to cook Christmas dinner for themselves and their teammates the next day - and then heading home to Ken's place for their first Christmas Eve as a couple.
True, Christmas was never as important a holiday in Japan as New Year's the week after...but it was still a day for celebration, for giving gifts, for being with someone you love.
It's going to be a beautiful evening, he thought. I'm going to make sure that he's happy.
In the workroom of the flower shop, Omi sat, putting the finishing touches on a wreath. He felt like he'd been making these things for the past six months. This one was to put on the door of Ken's apartment.
He'd made it more to keep himself busy than anything else. He felt like he had to be occupied, so he wouldn't give in to the emotions churning inside him.
I should be happy, he thought. It's Christmas, my first one with Ken-kun. But I'm not. I feel empty and sad instead.
He snipped little bits of pine here and there, the sweet fragrance filling his lungs. It didn't make his mood any lighter.
He thought it was funny that he'd been unable to enjoy the previous Christmas, but not this one. Weiss hadn't been a team for very long back then - indeed, Aya had only been a full-fledged member for a month or two. They'd all been living together in the apartment over the flower shop. They'd dragged a small Christmas tree up there, played carols on what had to have been the first CD player ever made.
Now, Omi thought, I have something to truly celebrate...but...I don't feel like celebrating. Not at all.
He finished trimming the wreath and stuck on a few more decorations. He decided he was going to keep his blues hidden as best he could. There was no use ruining Ken's Christmas.
His lover stuck his head into the back room. "Ready to go, Angel?" he said. "We're just about finished out here."
Omi grabbed a broom and swept up the pine shavings. "Just a second, Ken-kun."
"We've got presents from the girls to open later. Presents, can you believe it? They spent their allowances on us!"
Omi put his broom away and forced a smile. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," he said.
"Come on, get your coat. I got permission from Yohji to borrow his car for the afternoon so we don't have to try to cram the groceries in the sidecar. He's apparently getting a ride to wherever he's going from someone female."
"That doesn't surprise me, either." Omi went into the main office, where he hung up his apron and hat and got his jacket out of the closet. Ken seems to be in such a good mood, he thought, I hope I'm not a bummer for him.
"Okay," he said, coming back into the hall. "Ready."
They passed Aya on the way out. "We'll see you tomorrow at one," Ken said to him.
Aya merely nodded. Omi wondered what was going through his head. He must be feeling even worse than me, he thought., knowing he can't share Christmas with his sister.
They climbed into the car and took off. Omi gazed out the windshield at candy canes hanging from streetlights...twinkling lights in store windows...a Santa Claus ringing a bell on a street corner...
Every holiday artifact he saw made him feel worse...and worse...and worse.
"Damn," Ken was saying, "looks like they're parked all the way to the back of the lot. Maybe we should have taken the bikes, we could have just stuck them between two cars somewhere." He swung into the first vacant space that he saw.
When they went through the automatic door into Mitsuwa Marketplace, Omi's ears were instantly assaulted by a blast of "Jingle Bells" on the music system. The checkout girls were all wearing Santa hats over their standard blue smocks. People seemed to be laughing, happy...
"Okay, first thing we're going to need is sake," Ken said, pushing their cart toward the liquor aisle. "Nothing too fancy, just fairly decent stuff to make a toast with tomorrow." He put a bottle in the cart, moved down a little further, and got a second bottle...red wine. "And this merlot...is just for us, later on."
Omi found himself moving around the store like a zombie, lifting items from the shelf, putting them into the cart. He couldn't wait to get out of there.
But their departure from the store was the worst thing of all. There by the door stood a jolly man in a red suit, talking to the children as they passed him.
"And what do you want for Christmas?" he said to one little boy.
"You already got me what I wanted, Santa," he replied. "My sister came home from college. I get to spend Christmas with her!"
When Omi heard that, something burst inside him. Suddenly, in a rush of realization and emotion, he knew just why he was so depressed. And before he knew what was happening, tears were rolling down his face.
Ken had just been walking along, pushing the cart, humming to himself, dreaming of the next day...when he saw his lover start to cry without warning. "Omi?" he said. "What's wrong?"
Omi wanted to say something, but he knew if he did, he'd burst into full-blown sobs right in front of everyone. He just shook his head.
"Come on," Ken said. "We'll put this stuff in the car...stop at the apartment real fast so I can put the stuff that'll spoil in the fridge...and then we'll go for a drive."
Omi could only nod again, trying to choke back the tears as they loaded the car and drove to Ken's apartment building. He lowered his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at the decorations anymore...if he did, he knew he'd lose it entirely.
"I'll be back real quick, love," Ken said, quickly opening the trunk, pulling out the eggs and milk and ice cream, shifting them into one bag. Omi just sat there, feeling like it was taking forever for Ken to come back down, even though it was just a few minutes.
"We'll go somewhere where it's more peaceful," Ken said as he got back into the car. He pulled out of the lot and took a road that Omi knew well...the one that led out of the city, to a nice, quiet country area where they had come several times during the summer, to picnic and relax and just put their Weiss lives behind them for a little while.
I always felt better about life when I went there before, he thought. Maybe I'll feel better now...
The buildings and the crowds and the tinsel and holly were soon behind them. Omi could see forests of bare trees, their branches looking like patterns of black lace against the sky. The babbling brooks of the summer were now glossy patches of ice. It was peaceful, all right, and quiet, but...
He didn't feel any better.
Ken stopped by a little footbridge over a river. They got out, and Ken clasped Omi's hand, squeezing it tightly. They started to walk onto the bridge.
"Do you feel like talking?" Ken said.
Gods, Omi thought, how can I put what I'm feeling into words? He tried...but all that came out were sobs, the full-blown sobs he'd been holding back for so long. Ken's arms were around him, holding him tightly, and Omi buried his face in the other boy's chest, feeling the sobs get more and more intense as the emotions that had been choking him came out in wave after wave of agony.
He would later tell Ken, "It was like having stomach pains for hours, and then being sick to your stomach. I was sick to my soul."
Ken stroked Omi's hair and rocked him gently. "It's all right, darling," he whispered. "Go on and cry. Let it out."
Omi thought he'd never stop crying. Just when he thought he was done, that he'd be able to calm down, another wave of sorrow would wash over him, and he'd find himself wracked with more and more sobs. His knees gave way, and he found himself sinking down toward the bridge, Ken kneeling on the ground next to him, never letting him go.
At long last, he felt that there were no tears left to cry, that he'd drained every drop out of his body, mind and soul. He sagged against Ken, just holding him tightly, and Ken kissed him, gently.
I think I can talk now, Omi thought. I have to talk. I'll never feel like myself again if I don't get it fully out.
Raising his head, he said, "I feel...like a different person than I was last Christmas. Last year, I had no idea who I really was, where I came from."
Ken winced when he heard that. He knew all too well what Omi had endured over the last 12 months.
"And then, I found out I had a father, and two brothers, and...and a sister..."
And he had to kill his own brothers, Ken thought. Just like I was forced to kill Kase, my first lover.
"I know, darling," Ken said. "I know what you went through with Masafumi and Hirofumi. I went through the same thing. It hurts. I don't think I'll ever stop hurting over Kase."
"I wish I'd never known about my family," Omi said. "I would have been better off being kept in the dark forever. I wouldn't ever have nightmares about the kidnapping, or killing my brothers, or...or watching my sister die in my arms..."
Suddenly, he sprung to his feet, and his angelic face bore a look of anger that Ken rarely saw outside missions. "That's the worst part of this whole thing...the fact that I never got to spend a single Christmas with her! Not one!" He began to pace, wildly, like a tiger trying to get out of its cage. "We didn't meet until last spring, and she was dead a few months later! It's so unfair, Ken-kun, so unfair..."
Oh, gods, Ken thought, how many times have I felt like that, that life was completely unfair? Especially right after Kase's death. I just wanted to be reckless, self-destructive...I didn't care what happened to me. But then, I realized I had something to live for.
He stood up and walked over to Omi, catching up with him in mid-pace. "I'm not going to say that anything is fair, or that what happened was in any way good," he said. "But... something good did come out of all that bad."
Omi stopped. Something good had, indeed, happened in the aftermath of Ouka's death - the blossoming of a close friendship into full-blown love. But...
"That still doesn't change any of it," he said.
"It doesn't, you're right," Ken said, gently. "But...it means you do have a family, Omi. You and I are a family, aren't we?" He took Omi's hand. "We've helped each other out, and looked out for each other. Families do that." He reached out and stroked the boy's hair. "I feel so close to you, love...closer than I ever felt to any of my blood relatives."
Omi's mood seemed to soften a bit...he wasn't trembling as much, his eyes had lost some of the "mission look."
"I feel close to you, too, Ken," he said. "You're everything to me, you know that."
"You and me and Yohji and Aya...we're all a family," Ken said. "They look out for you and care for you, too." A family bound by blood and pain, he thought.
Omi smiled a bit at that. "Aya-kun doesn't show that very often, though."
"You have to beat it out of him," Ken replied. "He's not exactly Mr. Affectionate."
"Not exactly Mr. Mellow, either," Omi replied. "I'll never forget when we were all living together, and he used to raise a fuss about Yohji bringing girls home..."
"Hey, that's how we got our own places," Ken said. "Don't knock it." He's smiling again, Ken thought. He's becoming my Omi.
"I'm glad you have your own place," Omi said, looking down and blushing. "I wouldn't want anyone to hear us."
Ken laughed. "I wouldn't want to either, Angel." He leaned over and brought his lips to Omi's for a slow, soft kiss. "Feel better?" he said.
"Much," Omi replied. "But there's something I want to do, Ken-kun."
"What, sweetheart?"
"Can we stop at the cemetery on the way home? Where Ouka is?"
Ken nodded. He had anticipated this. "Of course, Omi."
"Good. Let's go, then."
Ken hugged him, and they headed for the car.
Omi knelt before the stone, breathing in the heavy scent of the incense burning on top of it.
This time last year, he thought, she was still alive. She would still be alive if it wasn't for me. The horrifying scene played itself out in his head again...the gun going off, Ouka sagging against him, Schuldich and Farfarello fleeing the scene...
He leaned over, resting his palm on the cold stone, his head on the back of his hand. She deserved far better, he thought. Again, the anger at the unfairness of it all welled up inside him.
"I'm sorry, Ouka," he said aloud. "I'm sorry we never got to spend Christmas together. It would have been nice if we'd actually grown up as brother and sister...we could have stayed up all night, waiting for Santa..."
He sat up straight again. "So much has happened over the past year, Ouka," he said. "Sometimes, I feel like I've lived a hundred years instead of just 17. There's always missions, all the time. I'm so glad you never knew the full truth about me. You probably wouldn't understand. You'd just see me as a killer. Well, I am a killer. But...the people we kill...well, it's like we're cutting a cancer out of the body of the human race."
He let his fingers trace the kanji that spelled out her name. "We're a necessary evil. But people just don't understand that. So we're kind of cut off from the rest of society. We have a secret nobody else can know. If I didn't have Ken-kun...I don't know what I'd do."
He looked toward the heavens, thinking of what Ken had said before...that their relationship was the one good thing that had come out of all the bad things that had happened. Ken and I fell in love after Ouka died, he thought. Would we still have done so if she had lived? I like to think we would, that it was meant to be...but there's no way I could really be sure.
"Ken-kun is the best thing in my life, Ouka," he said. "I like to think that you're happy for us. I had a fantasy earlier about the three of us spending Christmas together, as a family. The two most important people in my life, my love and my sister..." He sighed wistfully. "It would have been wonderful. But...it wasn't meant to be."
But...Aya-kun and Yohji-kun and Ken-kun and I will be spending it with each other, he thought. We are all a family, aren't we? And Ken-kun and I will be spending tonight together...our first Christmas as a couple. Life goes on.
He stood up, brushing off his pants. "I have to go now, Ouka," he said. "Ken-kun's waiting for me. I want you to know that he's made me happy. Very happy." He paused. "Merry Christmas...I'll be back soon."
Omi turned and walked away from the grave, back toward the car. Ken was waiting there, leaning against it. Without a word, he opened his arms. Omi rushed into them, and they embraced for a long moment.
Finally, Ken kissed him softly and whispered, "Let's go home, Angel."
"Yes," Omi replied, and they got back in the car.
"Okay, now," Ken said, opening the wine bottle, "this is supposed to be very good merlot. We're only going to have a little of it, because I don't think Aya and Yohji want to come here tomorrow and find us crawling all over the floor with hangovers."
Omi came out of the bedroom, carrying the presents he'd hidden under the bed. "I've never had merlot before," he said, setting them down under the tree.
"You're in for a treat," Ken replied, bringing the glasses into the living room. He handed one to Omi, giving him a kiss on the tip of his nose.
Omi held the glass up to the light, examining the deep purple-red color. He brought it to his nose and took a tentative sniff. Well, he thought, it won't kill me...He took a tiny, tiny sip.
"Well?" Ken said. "How is it?"
Omi paused a little, analyzing what his taste buds were telling him. It was fruity, all right, and a bit smoky and spicy...
"I like it," he said.
"I knew you would." The two clinked glasses. "Kampaii!" Ken said.
"Kampaii!" Omi repeated, and they settled on the couch, glasses in hand.
"Gods, it's so nice to have a quiet evening," Ken said. "Even when we didn't have missions, the past few weeks were just insane."
"I know," Omi said. "Dozen wreaths for this person...six poinsettias for that person..."
"Well, all that's over for awhile," Ken said. "Until Valentine's Day."
Omi held up his hand. He didn't want to think of that right now. To florists, "Valentine's Day" was a synonym for "Armageddon."
"Let's just think about now, okay?" He took another sip, then bent over and kissed Ken's temple. "I have something for you," he said, reaching under the tree for one of the boxes he'd placed there.
"I have something for you, too." Ken reached behind the couch and produced a smallish rectangular box, handing it to Omi.
Both of them attacked the paper with vigor, shredding it into colorful confetti. Omi reached into the remains of the packaging, and pulled out...
"A portable MP3 player!" he cried.
"Well, you have downloaded just about every MP3 on the Internet," Ken said.
"Not quite, Ken-kun. But give me time." He kissed his lover. "Thank you so much..."
"Okay, my turn," Ken said, peeling the last of the paper from his present. "Oh, gods...this is a camcorder!
Omi smiled to himself. He'd gone to Manx and begged for a bonus in order to buy that. But he knew that's what Ken had wanted, more than anything else.
"Well, you said you wanted to be able to tape your little soccer team," he said.
"Yes! Oh, this'll be a great help! I can tape all the practices and games and review them later with the kids...just like our coaches used to do in J-League." He grabbed Omi in his arms and squeezed him tightly. "Thank you...thank you so much..."
"I have something else for you," Omi said. He disentangled himself from Ken, reached under the tree, and came up with a small box...only to find Ken holding an even smaller box out to him.
"What a coincidence. So do I."
"You first," Omi said, handing the package over. He watched as Ken attacked the paper again, anticipation welling up inside him.
Ken lifted the lid, and drew out a silver bracelet made of thick links. "Wow," he said. "Omi...this is...beautiful!"
"Look at the flat metal plate in the middle," he said. "Read what it says."
"'To Ken, with love from your Angel.'" Ken blinked tears out of his eyes. "Oh, sweetheart..."
Omi took the bracelet and fastened it about Ken's left wrist, the one closer to the heart. He brought his lips to Ken's, and they kissed, gently.
"Okay," Ken said. "Now, look at yours."
Omi knew what it was even before he tore the paper off. He knew that a box that size, that shape, could only contain one thing. Sure enough, there was a beautiful silver ring, a simple band engraved with what looked like a pattern of knotwork.
"Ken...this is...so, so beautiful..."
Ken took the ring out of the box and slid it onto the third finger of Omi's left hand. The significance was not lost on either of them. This was a commitment ring.
Omi leaned over and touched his lips to Ken's, softly. His lover's arms came up around him, holding him tightly.
"I love you so much," Omi whispered.
"I love you too, Angel." Their lips met again, a soft, sweet caress that rapidly grew deeper, more urgent, Omi's lips opening like the petals of a rose under the soft pressure from Ken's tongue. They explored the wet velvet of each other's mouths as their hands began to slowly roam over shoulders, backs, hips. ..
Ken grasped Omi's bottom in his hands and squeezed, and Omi made a soft noise of pleasure in his throat before doing the same to his lover. Massage, rub, stroke...Omi pushed his pelvis against Ken's, tipping his head backward, inviting his lover to kiss and nibble along his neck.
"Mmm," Ken said, lowering his head, his tongue sweeping up and down the pulse line. Omi gasped, grinding his hips harder, trying to meld himself with his beloved. Ken nibbled along his jawline, licking here and there, one hand entangled in the boy's hair...soft, so soft, like spun clouds...
"Ken," Omi sighed. "Yes...oh, yes..."
"Come on, sweetheart...we'll be more comfortable in the bedroom. And with less clothes."
Omi laughed. "You would think like that."
"You don't mind it a bit, though."
Omi blushed. "No."
They kissed again, and got up, walking to the bedroom hand-in-hand. As soon as they were over the threshold, they were in each other's arms again, mouths clashing fiercely. Ken reached for Omi's shirt buttons, unfastening them rapidly, and Omi yanked Ken's shirt upward. The garments were flung on the floor, two pairs of pants, underwear, socks joining them soon after.
Blissfully nude, they tumbled to the bed, their mouths coming together like freight trains colliding. They rubbed their bodies together, fingers seeking out nipples, thighs pressing together, manhoods brushing, teasing each other...One soft moan answered another, their breathing coming in gasps and pants.
"So beautiful," Ken sighed, taking Omi's nipple in this thumb and forefinger and squeezing very gently. The younger boy cried out, and imitated the motion, rubbing his thumb over Ken's hardened bud, then pressing it.
"You always know what feels good," Omi whispered.
"So do you." Ken leaned over and rapidly swept his tongue down Omi's neck, to his chest, until he was lapping at the nipple he'd just been squeezing. "Oh, love, you taste so good..."
A wicked thought entered Omi's head. "You like how I taste?"
"Mmmm...I love it."
Omi quickly turned his body around, positioning himself so he was straddling Ken's head and his lips were near Ken's erection.
"Go ahead," he whispered. "Taste me."
Ken's heart was pounding. Gods, there was something so very, very erotic about someone who looked so sweet and innocent on the surface acting so seductive...
His tongue reached out, touching the younger boy's erection, feeling the heat, the hardness...Slowly, he ran it down the shaft, teasing the base, hearing Omi moan...yes, he was sensitive there, almost as sensitive as he was at the head...When he felt Omi's tongue touch his own hardness, he gasped, and brought his lips to the boy's head, taking him in deep, as deep as he possibly could. Oh, the taste of him...he was a bit sweet, a bit spicy, all delicious...
Omi licked at Ken eagerly, sliding his fingertips along the shaft as his tongue teased the head, then kissing slowly up and down...He fluttered his tongue right at the tip, around the opening, before engulfing him and starting a gentle, firm suction, moving his head rapidly back and forth. His heart was pounding as waves of hot pleasure began to spread from his manhood all over his body, making him take Ken in deeper still, as deep as he possibly could, wanting to give back every last ounce of pleasure he took...
Without breaking rhythm, Ken reached over with one hand, opening the nighttable drawer and finding the tube of KY. He flipped the top with his thumb and pressed it against the table with the heel of his hand, squeezing some of the gel onto his first two fingers.
Omi gasped as he felt his lover gently begin to caress his opening, coaxing it to let him in. He raised his hips, saying mutely, yes, please, please, fill me, bring me more pleasure...The finger slipped in, by degrees, rubbing, caressing, massaging in slow, lazy circles in time with the tugging of his mouth.
Omi was half-mad with pleasure now, feeling like he was going to come, oh, he was going to come, but he couldn't, he didn't want to, he just wanted this to go on forever...the soft wetness of his mouth, the tantalizing hardness of his finger, oh, they were both tormenting him, but it was utterly delicious torment. He moved forward against one, back against the other, warm, mellow pleasure coming from one part, deep, intense pleasure from the other, and both types were mixing along his spine, in his head, and driving him crazy. He sucked at Ken harder, faster, letting his fingers stroke and caress the sac beneath...
He felt Ken ease his finger, his mouth away, and he almost screamed in frustration.
"Easy, honey," Ken whispered. "Relax...lie here, on your stomach, and I'll make it real good for you."
Omi eased his mouth away from Ken, rolled off him, and got in the requested position, his heart absolutely thundering with anticipation. Oh, gods, please, please do it quick, he thought, I want you, I want you so badly...
Ken looked at Omi lying there, thinking that he'd never seen anything quite as arousing in his life. He leaned over and planted a soft, reverent kiss on the upturned bottom, then another, then another...The boy's moan of pleasure ignited a renewed fire in his own blood.
He got off the bed and went into the bathroom, washing his hands, then grabbing a towel and bringing it back. Taking up the tube again, he re-lubed his index finger, then leaned over, kissing Omi's neck.
Omi cried out, softly, as the finger entered him again. He moved his hips backward, sighing Ken's name as it moved in, around, out, in, around, out...He resisted the urge to cry out in disappointment as it left him, because he knew what was coming. Sure enough, a second finger joined the first, bringing a little pain at first...but that faded rapidly, and gave way to a warm, tingling pleasure.
"Yes," Omi murmured. "Good...so good. . ."
"Almost there, honey," Ken whispered as he pulled the two fingers out. "Almost there...you're almost ready..." Omi felt the fingers enter him again, joined by a third this time, and he gasped at the initial pain, then groaned as it quickly faded into pleasure.
"You're going to feel it soon, darling," Ken murmured as he slid the fingers in and out. "I'm going to be deep, so deep inside you...oh, I can't wait...I can't wait to feel you all around me, my love..."
"Do it!" Omi gasped. "Please...stop talking and do it..."
Ken leaned over, positioning Omi so his knees were drawn up to make entry easier. He leaned over, kissing his lover's neck and ears, as the tip of his manhood began to probe the other boy's opening.
"I love you," Ken whispered.
"I love you, too."
Omi gripped the sheets as Ken surged forward, filling and filling and filling him until he thought he'd burst. He breathed deeply, waiting for the pain to pass...and it did, and then...
"Ohhhh! Oh, Ken...it feels so good..."
"Yes, love." Ken began to thrust, slowly. "It is good, isn't it? Oh, you feel so nice...you can't imagine how good this feels..." He leaned over again, licking Omi's neck, blowing on the spot until it dried, then nipping at his earlobe, moving his hips more and more rapidly, the boy's passage gripping and squeezing him with every thrust, making pulses of electric pleasure shoot through every bit of him. His nipples brushed over his lover's back as he moved, only intensifying the pleasure, making him throw back his head and let out a long, low, guttural moan of pure ecstasy.
Omi pushed back against Ken with every thrust, feeling like he could never, never get enough, that his body could barely contain the pleasure. He made soft, little cooing noises, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, his mouth open in almost a perfect O. Every second, he felt hotter, and hotter, sure he was going to burst into flames...
"Ken!" he cried. "Ohhh...ohhh...almost...almost there..."
"Ohh...yes, yes, darling..." Ken leaned over Omi, his face pressed against the younger boy's, reaching for and grabbing one of his hands, feeling each other's heat, each other's sweat, the pounding of each other's hearts...
There was a moment when time stood still, when both felt they were frozen in limbo...and then Ken was engulfed in an explosion of hot sensation, crying out loudly, surging hard into Omi as the pleasure flooded him again and again. This touched off an answering climax in the younger boy, and he shouted his lover's name as he throbbed with delicious sensation, over and over and over...
Both of them collapsed to the bed, panting, spent. Ken clung to Omi like a life raft, laying soft kisses on his neck, back and shoulders.
"Gods," Omi whispered. "Unreal...so unreal..."
Ken slipped out of him, gently, and reached for the towel to clean both of them up. "It was absolutely amazing." He lay down next to Omi and embraced him. "Merry Christmas, Angel."
"Merry Christmas, Ken-Ken." He leaned his head on his lover's chest. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow now."
"Me, too. We'd better get some sleep now...we've got to be up at a reasonable hour to start cooking."
They shared a lingering goodnight kiss, then Ken turned out the bedside light, leaving only the light from the street illuminating the room. The light caught Omi's ring, making it shine. He looked at it, sighing contentedly.
Yes, he thought, I am happy. I know that for a fact now. There's been a lot of bad in my life, true...but there's also something very, very good.
Still looking at the ring, he drifted off to sleep.
Thanks tons to Steve Savage, Cheyne and Sailor Star Love, who acted as pre-readers for this story. And thanks to everyone who read "Erlosung," "Rache" and "Spielen" and gave me feedback.
Weiss Kreuz is owned by Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiss. These characters ain't mine, I'm just borrowing them for a little while.