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Sins Live On	By : NihilEtNemo Category: +M to R > Pretear Views: 1386 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Pretear, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Chapter 1
- 2-Chapter 2
- 1
- 2
TITLE: Sins Live On�� AUTHOR: setosgirl��

DATE: 6-8-06�� FANDOM: Pretear�� DISCLAIMER: I don�t own Pretear.

PAIRINGS: Kei/Sasame
focus, scenes of Hayate/Sasame (NC) and poss. Hayate/Kei (NC)

�OCs: None

CHAPTER:� 2�� RATING: PG�� WORDS: �2,476

WARNINGS:� none

SUMMARY: Hayate can�t forgive Sasame for Himeno�s death, even after one decade� then two� even
three.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sins Live On

Chapter 2

Hayate
sat in the window alcove, looking at the verdant scenery of Leafunia
on the other side of the glass. The sun was shining, of course; it was always
shining here.� The
trees were swaying slowly in a gentle breeze, and he could hear birds outside.

It was a beautiful day, the kind
that made him vaguely happy to be alive. The world wasn�t in danger and hadn�t
been for almost ten years. They had no new Pr�tear,
but they hadn�t yet needed one, so even that wasn�t too much of a concern. They
could all just live their lives and relax � a break they all cherished.

As this thought wandered across his
mind, Mannen and Shin wandered across his field of
vision together, talking with easy camaraderie. Mannen
had already reached the age where he would stop physically changing, several
years ago, and now looked exactly as he had before his death in the first fight
against Takako, as Hajime also did now; Shin was
still three years or so from that point, but seeing them all again, as he
remembered them, made him smile. It was almost as though things were as they
were supposed to be again.

There was a brief hint of red in
the corner of his eyes, and he turned with a slight smile to Goh. The fire knight grinned back at him and rested his
forearms in the window, looking through the glass and
watching the younger boys walk away.

They remained in comfortable silence,
until Shin and Mannen were gone from their sight and
they were left with the peaceful scenery once again.
�It�s a great day,� Goh offered casually without
looking away from the view.

Hayate
was smiling slightly as he nodded. �Yeah, it is� everything�s back to normal.�
His thoughts translated into words easily enough, surprisingly. It didn�t seem
that he should be able to say what he felt, not when he felt this good.
�Everything is how it�s supposed to be again. It�s been so long since it was��

Goh
glanced at him. �Well�� he said, not grinning, a strangely serious expression
taking over his face, �everything except, you know� Sasame.�

He could actually feel his face
hardening, and it was with anger instead of peace that he looked out the window
again. �That traitor,� he said quietly, �is no longer a part of this. He�s
where he�s supposed to be, too.�

And Sasame could remain dead, for all he cared. Six knights
would be more than enough to protect the world � especially if they didn�t have
a traitor in their midst to endanger them.

He thought that Goh�s
gaze was sad, but he was still looking out the window and didn�t want to check
for sure. He knew it wasn�t shocked, though. They all knew how he felt. He
never wanted to see the knight of sound again, and
never would, no matter how regularly they brought him up in conversation.

Goh just
nodded slightly and looked silently out the window again. Hayate
didn�t ask what was on his mind, guessing on his own that it was disappointment
and sadness. He could live with it. As long as none of them made an effort to
become like their missing comrade and follow in his footsteps,
they could be sad all they wanted. He wouldn�t be changing his mind.

A small bird twittered as it came
near, and landed on the outside of the windowsill. He had to smile slightly
again, watching it watch them before it took off again. Himeno
would have liked this day, he reflected. And it didn�t
even really hurt to think it.

Kei had been on the verge of giving
up hope.

It had been ten years since Takako�s second defeat, and reformation. True, it had been
longer before � it had been eleven years, after all, before Shin was reborn �
but it wasn�t common, especially when there was only one knight to be reborn,
for it to take so long. Every day that there was no sign of him reaffirmed the
thought he had had ten years ago, that perhaps he would never be reborn.
Perhaps his betrayal of the Pr�tear had doomed him to
a real death, no matter the noble cause. He really was, as Hayate
insisted upon saying every time he was mentioned, a
traitor � and such sins were not easily forgiven. Or
even, perhaps, ever forgiven.

There had been one of them keeping
an eye on the pool at all times since they had returned here to wait until they
were needed again. At first, the younger three had
been eager to help and had nearly fought over the privilege of doing so, but as
the years passed it had slipped, if not out of their
minds, out of their priorities. Even Goh had become
accustomed to a life with six knights. They all wanted him back, of course, but
if he didn�t� they were perfectly capable of surviving that way, too. It struck
Kei as slightly sad, but there was nothing he could do about
it. It was Sasame who
was the expert in the feelings of others.

As the others had found their own
lives again, Kei had found himself sitting by this pool more and more, watching
the play of the light on the water. His expectations of seeing anything were
low, of course, but he continued to wait.

Because he didn�t expect to see
anything, he almost missed it when there was something to see, finally, after a
decade of waiting. At first, his mind dismissed the faint flare of pinkish
light as a trick of his imagination, or the reflection of a flower. It took a
long moment before he realized that he sensed a greater concentration of Leafe energy than he had before, and an even longer moment
before he could scramble with far less dignity than he was accustomed to to his feet and around the back of the tree where he had
seen it.

And there
he was, a pale-haired baby with startling violet eyes�

He smiled as he gently picked up
the silent child. It made sense that Sasame wouldn�t
cry; it was just his personality. He hadn�t the last time, either� Kei was the
oldest of the knights, and had seen each of the others die at least once, but
in most cases several times. He himself had died before, but far more rarely
than any of the others, and even given that his memories were reset every time,
he had still seen each of the others as they were reborn. Sasame
was the only silent one, and always had been. It was a relief to see him again,
and to see that he wasn�t changed�

�Good to have you back, Sasame�� he murmured, and sat against the tree, watching
him, and watching him watch him right back. He would need to work out how he
was going to keep Hayate from seeing him, of course,
but he could take care of that in a little while. For the moment
it was good enough to have him back without thinking about that, and just be
relieved that he had been given back to them at all.

Sasame
continued to regard him strangely solemnly, with an air that they all tended to
share even as small children of age and maturity. He ran his hand over his
hair, smoothing it down and reassuring his subconscious that he really was
real, wrapping him in his cape and holding him.

The moment was
eventually interrupted as Goh wandered around
the pond, evidently in search of him. He looked up in time to see the fire
knight freeze, eyes on the baby, and then smile broadly.

�He�s back,� he said unnecessarily,
crouching down beside him and watching Sasame�s face.
�Awesome. Just now?�

Kei nodded. �An hour ago, maybe. No
one else knows yet.�

Neither of them made any move to
get up or tell the others, either, as Goh reached out
to let the Sasame-child grip his finger. �He�s cute,�
he commented, looking up. Kei smiled slightly. �How are you going to keep him
away from Hayate�?�

He let a soft sigh escape him. �I
was kind of hoping I wouldn�t have to, really� I assume, though�?� He didn�t
have to finish it; Goh was already shaking his head
in the negative.

�He said he could stay dead, as far
as he was concerned; I don�t think he�s ready yet.�

�Yes, I thought as much. Very well�
I�m still prepared to raise him myself, inasmuch as he needs �raised�, until Hayate can look at him without rage.�

Goh
seemed worried. �You don�t really think he�d hurt him, do you�? Even if he does
still blame him.�

�No, I doubt he would. He wouldn�t
accept him, though, and I doubt it would do anyone any good for a knight to
mature in an atmosphere of hatred, especially when he doesn�t know why he�s
hated.�

The brunet nodded, then grinned. �Can I go tell the others?� he asked. �They�ll
be relieved to hear it. I know they were starting to worry that he might not
get to come back at all.�

Kei nodded, smiling himself. �Go
ahead. Make sure they know that they can�t tell Hayate,
though� I�ll take care of a place for him to stay where Hayate
won�t be able to get to him.�

With another nod, Goh was on his feet and walking away, his step light and
humming tunelessly. Kei watched him go, then stood,
holding the child in one arm. He stepped lightly to the place across the pond
where the tree that had once held Takako still stood,
gaping open, a jarring reminder of their pain. Hayate refused to so much as look
at this place now.

After a moment, he walked past the
husk of the dead tree and further into the airy forest. There was a
leaf-littered clearing a little further on, surrounded by the silver trunks of
the surrounding trees, and it was here that he decided Sasame
would have his home until he could join them.

It took a long moment of
concentration, but the air shimmered after a moment, returning quickly enough
to normal and never once giving a clear view of what it contained. There was
something there, to be sure, but it was invisible� what was vision, after all,
but the interpretation of light as the eyes recorded it?

He reached out unerringly, and made
a motion as though grabbing a doorknob, turning his hand in midair and stepping
forward.

As soon as he was past the
invisible doorway, his world exploded in a warm blaze of light that set his
nerves at ease. There seemed to be no solid surfaces within the building, but
there were nevertheless walls of shimmering light, pale and not quite opaque,
of gold and silver around them, making the dwelling subduedly
bright and coolly warm at the same time.

There was a
corridor that he followed forward for a few feet until it opened up into
a set of larger rooms. There were furnishings now as well, the normal furniture
one would expect, save that it seemed made of
congealed light and shone just as the walls did.

�There you are, Sasame��
Kei said, looking around in satisfaction. �A house of light� just until Hayate comes to his senses.� He looked down at him,
watching as the baby solemnly admired the warm light around them. �I guess you
like it.�

A single clear note of surprising
depth rang out from the walls, and the light seemed to glow that much more
deeply in turn. Kei smiled as he carried Sasame back
out of the house so that the others could see him.

He was closing the invisible door
behind him as he noticed Sasame focused on an area
behind him. He looked that direction, and in another moment
he too could hear the approach of several other knights, and was waiting for
them when they finally came into view, Goh leading an
excited and curious group of younger knights.

�What is it, Kei?� Hajime asked,
bouncing on the balls of his feet, the two long locks of his orangish hair bouncing in front of his ears.

�Goh said
that you had something to tell us, but he won�t tell us what it is�� Shin
added, looking curiously at him. None of them had yet had an opportunity to see
the small child he held, disguised as he was in the folds of his golden throw.
It was still vaguely sad that even when they passed the pond none of them had
thought of Sasame�

He smiled slightly and stepped
forward, folding the cloth back as they craned forward to reveal the
pale-haired bundle he held.

�He�s back!� Mannen
yelled in apparent delight. Hajime let out a jumping whoop. Shin just looked
thrilled. Goh leaned against a tree and grinned while
Hajime and Mannen danced around in a circle,
cheering.

And
through all this, Sasame just looked solemnly at them
all, and Kei watched him in turn.

�We have to tell Hayate,� Shin was saying happily with that blithe smile of
his. �I know he still seems mad, but he�ll be glad now that he�s back.�

Kei shook his head, and the
jubilation died down.

�We can�t?� Mannen
asked. �It�s been ten years � surely he�s not really angry anymore. Sasame was his friend � of course he wants him back.�

�Sasame was
his friend,� Kei said slowly, �but he isn�t anymore� he sees him as a traitor
to the Pr�tear and, worse yet, traitor� and killer�
to Himeno. He will forgive him, I think, but it will
take some time yet.�

�So we can�t let him know in the
meantime,� Hajime summed up. �So� we have to hide him. Where?�

Kei smiled slightly again. �I�ll
take care of him; don�t worry about it.� He raised a hand to stave off the
protests of all four of them, all of whom had lunged forward in shock. �I know
normally all of the knights raise the reborn, but this time it has to be
different. Hayate can�t know, and so he can�t be included
� and it would be suspicious if all of us suddenly began spending our time
away, or even if we took shifts. I�ll raise Sasame
alone, until Hayate is safe to be around him, and
then he can have a normal life.�

The boys didn�t seem particularly
happy about this, but he would hear no more protests, after he got each of them
to swear to keep Sasame a secret for the moment. He
let them fawn over the baby for a little while, then sent them away and took
him back inside the house of light and sound where he would be safe.
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Sins Live On

Sins Live On