The Time of Ten Suns

by Lucathia

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Sun Knight and make no profit from writing this.

Part 5

Dearest Ann,

Have you and your sisters ever tried to make food for everyone in the palace?

I really enjoy making food.

I really do.

I just wonder if we have enough blueberries.

Ten Suns. Ten times the appetite. We had not been defeated by undead creatures or scheming enemies, but we may very well be defeated by Sun's terrifying stomach.

I watched, eyes wide as the pies that Ice had made disappeared at a startling rate. It didn't surprise me that Blue greatly enjoyed blueberry pies - although he wasn't Sun, he was just so similar that I'd be surprised if his tastes differed. I also already knew that Ice's Sun greatly enjoyed the pies too. He even helped taste test them in the kitchen. Perhaps one slice too many, even.

What surprised me was that each and every one of the Suns couldn't seem to keep their hands off the pie. Not a single one of them refused the pie, not even sword-wielding Sun. But maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. A Sun that didn't like blueberry pie was unthinkable, and sword-wielding Sun was no exception.

When he saw Ice walk in with the pies, his eyes had lit up, even though he had quickly looked elsewhere right after that. Several Suns watched him in amusement, while others were baffled.

"Don't tell me you can resist this?" Storm's Sun asked. A lock of his short hair fell in front of his face when he shook his head in disbelief. He impatiently shoved it back behind his ear, but it was a lost cause.

Reluctant, sword-wielding Sun picked up his fork under the cajoling of the other Suns. But, his slice of pie soon disappeared. Immediately afterward, he grabbed another slice but blinked when he noticed it on his plate, as if he hadn't planned on having seconds, and his hand had moved of its own accord. He glumly poked at the pie with his fork, eyes shifting up to glance furtively at the others, like he hoped no one had seen him take a second slice.

My heart thumped. Can he see?

I suspected that this question would never be far from my mind as I observed each and every Sun. I owed Sun too much.

"Hah, knew you wouldn't be able to resist!" Short-haired Sun exclaimed triumphantly.

Mature-looking Sun who had saved black-haired Sun the night before nodded and smiled in a cheeky fashion that instantly made him look a lot less mature. "Resistance is futile~, but if you don't want that pie, you can always give it to me."

The moment he said those words, sword-wielding Sun moved his plate out of mature-looking Sun's reach. Sword-wielding Sun then said, "You know what, I've changed my mind." After that, he ate the pie without holding back.

Mature-looking Sun was anything but mature as he pouted.

I chuckled.

Blue laughed as well and said, "I better eat my pie before someone takes it from me!"

While all that was happening, the Sun staying with Blaze was taking his time. He took a single bite of his share and closed his eyes, slowly chewing. It was like he was lost in the moment. Despite all the clamor around us, I found my eyes drawn to him, unable to look away.

"Sun?" I asked hesitantly.

The instant I asked that, several people swerved to look in my direction, yet the one I was asking didn't. When they noticed I wasn't addressing them, the other Suns followed my gaze toward the Sun who had his eyes closed as he savored the taste of Ice's homemade blueberry pie. He hadn't responded and was instead completely focused on the pie.

Eventually, his eyes fluttered open. It might've been my imagination, but they almost seemed a bit... moist. He murmured, "I've missed this taste."

I bit my lips.

"What was that?" Blaze asked to the side.

Sun blinked a few times and then smiled widely, his smile much more natural than the one he had on the day before. "Everything was so hectic before this, and I was kept in captivity by Charlotte for over a month! It's been too long since I last had one of Ice's masterpieces. Now, I finally feel alive again! I'm sooo touched!"

The Sun that was staying with Judgment nodded in full agreement, mouth too stuffed with pie to speak.

"You okay, Strawberry?" Blue asked me.

I slid my eyes toward him and gave him a small smile to reassure him.

On the other side, white-haired Sun was happily eating slices of pie as well, declaring that the sweetness was really just right. Black-haired Sun sat next to him while clutching the Eternal Tranquility to himself. They were a stark contrast to each other, one brimming with holy element and the other overflowing with dark element.

White-haired Sun nudged him and placed a slice of pie before him. "Stop looking so gloomy already! Have some pie!"

"I'm afraid that if I let go of this gem, I'll go insane..." Black-haired Sun whispered.

"Nonsense!" White-haired Sun said. "You're sitting in a room full of holy element! It probably feels suffocating to you, but it also means that you won't lose control! Besides, when all else fails, I'm here."

Sun had always had good control over the holy element, but white-haired Sun truly took it to a whole new level. Having him here to help black-haired Sun was more than we could have wished for.

Black-haired Sun nodded, hands slowly unclenching bit by bit. Then, he took a deep breath and forced himself to completely let go all at once. He froze. When nothing happened, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"See? Now eat up!" White-haired Sun handed a fork over.

I breathed a sigh of relief too, glad that black-haired Sun would be able to enjoy the pies with us. Still, it was worrying that his condition was so unstable even with the Eternal Tranquility and the Divine Sun Sword by his side.

Soon, even the last pie disappeared. The Sun who was staying with Judgment took the last slice before any of the other Suns could take it. He flashed everyone a cheeky smile, much like the one mature-looking Sun had earlier.

"Hey, no fair!" Wavy-haired Sun exclaimed.

Sun responded by sticking his tongue out.

I could only chuckle, glad to have them with us. I much preferred a scene like this than ever seeing a lifeless Sun lying on top of the conference table.

As we all continued with our breakfast, compliments about the food were freely given. Everyone present thought that Ice and I had outdone ourselves, cooking up enough food to serve such a huge crowd. I smiled and said, "Sun and Blue helped out a lot."

Sun and "cooking" did not normally belong in the same sentence, and even Sun knew it himself.

Everyone looked our way.

"You cook?" One of the Suns asked the two of them.

Ice's Sun merely shrugged. "I get by."

"You're called Blue?" Someone else asked.

It was obvious that Blue was the one being asked about his nickname, and everyone immediately turned his way. Although Sun and "cooking" was a big topic, a Sun with blue hair was quite a topic too. He merely waved his hand in the air and explained that calling him Blue would be much easier than calling him Grisia.

"I've been wondering," Storm suddenly spoke up, "but I can't quite believe my own conclusions. Don't tell me..."

"You're right as always! I'm sure it's exactly like what you're thinking." Blue even bowed with a flourish. "I'm Storm, at your service. But since it might get confusing with both of us getting called that, you can call me Blue." When he straightened back up, he looked Storm over curiously. "Though I can't quite believe it either. To think I'd see you with blue hair!"

I blinked and looked back and forth between Storm and Blue, who both had long, blue hair. Not since Storm's teacher had retired had I last seen such a scene - two people with blue hair, sitting in the same room. Right, Blue is the Storm Knight, so Storm can't be Storm there. Is Storm still one of the Twelve Holy Knights?

From Blue's words, it definitely sounded like he knew Storm. It even sounded like...

"Blue, who is your Sun?" I asked. I had been wondering since the previous night.

In the meantime, short-haired Sun was mumbling to himself, likely voicing what all of them thought. "I can't believe it. There's a me out there who isn't the Sun Knight?"

The corners of Blue's lips lifted. It was more of a mischievous smile than anything, but was it really possible that he harbored no feelings whatsoever for the position of the Sun Knight?

"It's this guy, of course!" He said, casually jerking his thumb to the side to point out the other blue-haired guy in the room.

I stared.

Storm was his Sun Knight?

to be continued

A/N: Ten Suns in the same room, all eating pie... Too many Suns! A sketch of sword-wielding Sun, drawn by Kiyutsuna, can be seen over at my LJ or AO3.