Day 13, 5:30

[yuuri_maou]

[After his fight with Wolfram here*Jerey doesn’t speak to him as they make their way outside, and he’s thankful for it. His head is just so full and his heart so heavy he feels like if he starts talking, he’ll explode. Without being asked, Jerey saddles up a horse and takes him out to the field behind the ball stadium Conrad had built. Once they

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[yuuri_maou]

*Once Yuuri has finally cried himself out, he lays down, pillowing his head in his arms. With Wolfram waking him up far too early and the familiar weight pressing down on his heart, it doesn't take long for him to fall into a fritful sleep.*

[sekinin]

It is drizzling faintly, but the mad striding across the grass does not appear to notice. He approaches silently, the grass making no sound beneath his boots and stops beside the Maou and drops into a crouch. A soft smile flickers over his face.

"Heika? Heika? It's time to wake up."

Conrad chuckles at the teen's sluggish response. "Heika? I thought you wanted to play catch."

[yuuri_maou]

Don't call me that *he mumbles sleepily* It's just Yuuri, Co- *for a moment he pauses, and then rolls over onto his knees* Conrad? *he asks*

*Slowly he reaches out his hand, trying to find his friend and smiling when a warm, familiar hand closes around his* Conrad. I, I thought you were gone.

[sekinin]

Conrad smiles easily at the bewilderment on Yuuri's face and tugs the pale looking King to his feet. He hugs him tightly as though to prove the veracity of his presence. "Gone? And where would I be if not by your side?

"Besides," a gentle hand ruffles Yuuri's hair, "didn't I tell you? 'When that day comes, at that time we will meet again in a different place.'"

[yuuri_maou]

*After everything, he's glad just to be held for a moment by someone who is asking nothing of him, demanding nothing of him, accusing him of nothing, and who cares about him. It's like a little bit of home, wrapped up and placed in his hands*

I don't know *he says with a small laugh* But I could have sworn someone said that you had gone. I'm glad, Conrad. It's so different with you gone.

.......*click* 'When that day comes'? *he repeats slowly, drawing away slightly* Conrad, you.....no. NO!

*He pulls away, almost stumbling in his slippers on the grass* I won't let you be dead! We're coming for you! It'll be okay, we're coming and we're going to bring you back home.

*Tears sting his eyes and he reaches out again like a lost child* Conrad.

[sekinin]

Conrad gently grasps Yuuri's hand in his own and pulls the young King back into his arms, embracing him once again. He smile flickers sadly, but does not falter. "Yuuri, don't cry. Do you think I would want you to be sad? I have always watched over you and I will always continue to do so, so don't cry."

He pulls away to brush aside the tears sliding down Yuuri's cheeks. "Death is not anything to fear. Do I seem like I'm in pain? Suffering? Hurting?" Gentle, calloused hands faintly peppered with scars cradle the Maou's face. "Yuuri, I am happy. Because I got to serve you. Because I got to know you and protect you. And because I died in your service. I am happy because I have gotten all I could have wanted from this life. Death is not the end. You of all people should know that. So don't cry. I told you; I won't ever abandon you."

[yuuri_maou]

But I NEED you! *he cries* I need you here! Nothing is going right. We're at war, Greta is kidnapped, and Wolfram hates me! I, I, I *a sick sounding cough escapes his chest and he shakes his head* Listen to me. I, I, I. Wolfram was right. He was right, I am selfish.

Did it hurt? *he whispers softly, leaning his head against Conrad's chest* When it ended? Were you *sniffle* alone? I'm, I'm so sorry, Conrad. Knowing me, *a rueful smile crosses his face* babysitting me, it seems like a pretty poor exhange.

Stay, a little longer? I, I know you'll never really leave me, but I won't see you again, so please. Just a little longer.

[sekinin]

The man gently disengages himself from Yuuri and takes the boy by the hand, still smiling. "If you wish me to stay, then I'll stay. Come on. Let's walk

[yuuri_maou]

*Ambling along quietly by Conrad’s side, the older half breed’s words calm his unhappy heart and gently sooth the pain that has been eating away at him. Conrad is comforting, and Yuuri even manages a smile, leaning against his friend as they sit down.*

How do you always manage to do that *he muses, squeezing Conrad’s arm gently* Always make me feel better no matter what’s happening around me. It never seems quite so bad, or daunting, after I’ve talked to you. Can’t you teach some of that to Wolfram, or even Gwendal? Doom and Gloom, the two of them. *He smiles again and looks blankly out over the diamond.*

I’m afraid that I’m failing everyone *he admits* That everything I promised to do and have tried to do has come to nothing. I don’t want this to be a grand, failed experiment. I want to make everyone proud, but to protect them, I have to send them to war. I don’t want to fail them, Conrad. I can’t fail them. After everything that you and everyone have fought so hard for, that Julia died for, I can’t fail them.

[sekinin]

The man is silent for the duration, listening patiently as Yuuri empties himself of words until the burden is something shared between the two of them. Then Conrad closes his eyes and drops his head, seemingly lost in thought. The silence stretches on for a moment, punctuated only by the occasional chirp of an early morning bird.

"Yuuri . . . What I am going to tell you know may be the hardest thing you'll ever have to hear, so listen to me very closely . . ."

He opens his eyes and looks over at the boy, but his seemingly perpetual smile is nowhere in evidence. Instead, he merely looks . . . sad. "Yuuri is . . . precious. Important. Loved . . . by everyone. But Yuuri is also the King. I call you 'Heika' and you don't like it because it puts distance between us, but whether you like it or not, there is distance between us. You. Are. The. Maou."You are above us. Above me. Above Wolfram. Above Gwendal . . . You are our liege and our lord whom we are sworn to serve and that position trumps being a parent and a lover and a

[yuuri_maou]

*For a long moment after Conrad finishes he continues to stay silent, blank eyes staring into dark space where the man’s face should be. In a way, he knew this. He always knew this. He’d been feeling it for a long time, but had resisted it for the comfort of familiarity. And maybe that’s why Wolfram was so angry with him. He’s been telling him for so long to treat him normally, and has let him treat him so normally that his outburst this morning must have seemed like a slap in the face

[sekinin]

Conrad smiles gently, looking curiously relaxed, and tilts his head ever so slightly to the side. He squeezes the small hand within his own tightly. “Of course, Heika. Have I ever denied you anything?”

The brunet releases the boy’s hand and takes a step closer to press a ghost of a kiss against Yuuri’s forehead. “. . . Don’t despair, Yuuri. One way or another, I will always be by your side, and I believe in you more than anything else in this world.”

There is a momentary stir of gravel as Conrad steps back and then he bows deeply, a formal bow similar to the one preformed at the engagement ceremony when he swore fealty to the Royal Couple. He smiles one last time and then turns away without a word of goodbye, exiting the dugout with unnatural speed despite the fact that he does not seem to hurry in the least. The morning mists swallows him within a matter of moments and the dew where he had passed remains undisturbed in the pale morning light.