Zeno sat in an unused corner of the apprentice priests' dormitories, finishing up the stuffed yellow dragon. It had been a long time since there was enough apprentices for this room to be used, a situation that did not appear to be likely to change in the near future.

When he had played at being a priest all those years ago, he had never expected the position he created to play the role it had in Kouka politics. It was in one of its down swings of influence, so it would likely be another century or two before there would be enough apprentices to put this room back in use. It was a gamble to be sure, effectively squatting in Hiryuu Castle, but winters had been harsh the last couple years, and frostbite was something he preferred to avoid as much as possible.

That, and it was unexpectedly hard to stay away from Hiryuu's reincarnation, Yona.

He had come the first time mostly out of curiosity. Making the stuffed crimson dragon…it felt like the right thing to do, to leave a token behind, even if Yona never knew where it came from. His plan when he sneaked into the room had been to simply take a look, leave the dragon, and leave.

The absolute last thing he expected was experiencing the awakening again when her eyes met his. The dim light that had floated on the edge of his conscious since the red star appeared in the sky flared into a torch, his blood boiling as the vow renewed itself to a new master.

It was less surprising that she seemed to recognize him. Promising four more dragons had been an impulse decision. Getting the right shade of crimson had been hard enough, but…

Feeling her baby-joy at a familiar face, and her longing for him to stay decided for him.

He had taken up in the dormitory then. It was close enough via hidden passage to the family quarters, as well as the kitchens and clothing workshops. Maids, or apprentice priests for that matter, didn't even bother coming to dust, and the outrageousness of someone squatting inside the royal castle meant he felt moderately secure.

"Zeno really shouldn't stay here…but it's too hard to leave." He commented, frowning down at one of the wings.

"Kaya can't blame Zeno; she's too cute!" Kaya chimed, somewhere to his right.

Feeling Kaya again, as well as Guen, Abi, and Shuten had been another surprise. Had Yona not expressly pointed at each spot and naming them, he may well have thought he had imagined it. But Kaya never left. It wasn't long (for someone who'd been around as long as him anyway) before he could get a sense of her words when she touched him, and then he heard her voice again.

Zeno glanced over to Kaya, smiling, before turning back to his stitches. He froze, and looked back. "Ka…ya?"

He could see her.

She was kind of blurry on the edges, but she was visible.

He hadn't hallucinated her voice and presence after all.

"Zeno…can see Kaya?" She asked, shuffling closer to rest a hand on his cheek.

He nodded, throat tight as tears welled up. Setting aside the nearly finished dragon, he reached for her, stopping shy of her hair. Tears of her own started as she placed her other hand on his other cheek, cupping his face. "I'm here Zeno." She whispered.

"Kaya, I'm sor-" A finger to his lips cut him off.

"Kaya doesn't need any apologies. Without you, I'd have died alone, with no one ever knowing I was gone. I didn't die afraid as I strained to breathe, choking on my blood. I died warm and loved and happier than I'd ever been. So please, don't apologize for anything." She told him, resting her forehead on his as their tears fell.

"…Z-I still should have told you something, before the end…" He whispered, gazing at the ground.

"Maybe because I was dying…sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I'd see scales on your skin. Then it wasn't just out of the corner of my eye, but something that vanished as soon as I was aware of it. At the end…you glowed like the sun, and your figure was overlaid with Ouryuu-kami."

He started at this last bit. "Ouryuu…?"

"He came for me." It was Kaya's turn to look down. "He told me…he had seen what Hiryuu-kami would do, before he ever conceived of it. So he planned ahead, picking a baby who could hear the gods. The power of the dragons would be needed at least once more beyond that time, but all four were inherited legacies…there needed to be someone to carry the knowledge of that time forward. And he was curious too, what Hiryuu-kami saw in humans, but he couldn't bear the thought of joining his brother on Earth without either of them able to defend themselves. He couldn't save me…because once he was inside of you, he had no way of telling you anything."

She looked back up at Zeno's startled face. "When he conceived of giving a human his body, he never thought you would change him as much as he changed you."

"…so the part about the warriors becoming the other halves of the dragons…is literal in my case?" Zeno asked.

"As far as I can understand. He…he was able to let be stay at your side without turning into a possessing spirit, because in life you had shared some of your power with me, without realizing it." Kaya answered, blushing at the end.

Zeno blushed too at the implication. "You've…been at my side ever since…?"

"Yes." She said simply.

He paled at her answer and what it implied. She had seen when loneliness drove him to tear himself to shreds, the various ways he had killed himself-or been killed-over the years, the frankly stupid experiments he had done, testing the limits, partly out of boredom, partly out of curiosity, and partly hoping one of them would work.

"Zeno is not doing this." She said sternly, turning his face back to her. "If any of that had scared me off, I wouldn't be here now. I cried with you, and held you even though you couldn't feel it, and drove into your dreams to help create some happiness for you, even if the details faded when you woke. I love you, Zeno. I am your wife, and like how you stayed with me until my body was bones, I will stay with you until we can both go above the skies."

"Kaya…" He could only whisper, reaching for her and stopping shy of hugging her. "…Zeno can't touch you, but you can touch him?"

"Yes…Kaya doesn't know why. But you can touch Kaya back in your dreams tonight, after you give the dragon to Yona." She promised him.

She was flying through the sky, him-her keeping her steady on top of dragon-them. Alongside them were the other dragons, with only the yellow dragon bearing a single rider instead of a pair. But then the rider on the yellow dragon was the yellow dragon, and a girl nearly as bright as her sun took his place.

The younger of the pair on the green dragon was ignoring the elder, shuffling so far forward that he was practically between the dragon's horns. Scowling, the elder did nothing to draw him back, but kept careful watch over him anyway.

The boy on the blue dragon spent as much time looking baffled at all of them as staring ahead, the wind on his unhidden face an unknown pleasure. The man steadying him had a bittersweet smile on his face at the younger's joy.

The boy on the white dragon looked up starry-eyed at the elder of the pair, asking questions so fast the elder could only look at him puzzled. This drew a scowl from the boy on the green dragon, and the boy on the white dragon started yelling at him. The elders on the green and white dragons just shook their heads, exchanging bemused smiles.

A new dragon, as dark as Ha-kun and Hak's hair, fell into place beside her, Hak insisting to Ha-kun that he didn't need to be steadied and her telling him she didn't care if he fell. But the steadying hand on Hak's back, and how he made no effort to move it, said otherwise.

"I can't wait to meet all of them." She told him-her. "Cuz they're mine, not yours-mine."

"You sure you don't want to share?" Him-her asked, bemused in the way adults usually were with her.

"The past is the past, and it's enough to carry the memories forward as new bonds are made." She turned back to him-her with a sly look. "Besides, yours can only give people the chills, not beat them up."

There was general sense of outrage from the elders as him-her laughed, Hak and Ha-kun shared identical dark smirks, and the yellow dragon and his girl-no, the rider of the yellow dragon and his girl-tried and failed not to giggle as the dream faded.

Her sun was close by, the murmur of his voice talking to Guen and Abi and Shuten forming into words. "…never thought I'd feel all of you again, let alone see you."

She sat up with a yawn. "Zeno…?" It was cold as she crawled out of her cocoon of blankets, but Zeno was more than warm enough to serve as a substitute. "Cold."

"The miss should have stayed in bed if she's cold." He said as she crawled into his lap, letting her cling to his side as he wrapped his cloak around both of them.

"Zeno here." She said, looking up at him. Why stay in bed if Zeno was here?

If she was on top of him, he'd stay longer.

"You know you're her favorite." Guen mock-grumbled.

"Only because she doesn't see Zeno every day like you three." He answered.

Poking around at his tunic, she uncovered the last stuffed dragon, the yellow one. Clinging to him, she asked, "Zeno no more come?"

"Hm? Why does Miss say that?" He looked down at her, confused.

"All of 'em." She gestured to the four dragons curled up in her blankets with her new yellow one.

She should get back in the blankets before they got cold, but it was hard to let go of Zeno.

"Well…" Her sun started, humming. "Would the Miss mind if Zeno came without a present?"

"Zeno IS present." She informed him with a frown.

He had been so sad and so lonely for so long, just him here with her, if not happy-happy at least content, was enough of a gift.

"Zeno can't keep away from Yona, and neither can Kaya." Her sun's sun commented, crouching close.

"Listen to Kaya!" Yona exclaimed, grabbing for Kaya's sleeve and frowning as her hand passed through, like when her three spirits fought over dangling things for her to try and grab, only for her hand to pass through.

"Yes, listen to your wife, you hen-pecked husband." Shuten said with a snicker.

"Where hens?" Yona asked him, Kaya snuggling up next to Zeno with her between them. "No hens here."

Something about the phrase was familiar, even more so when her trio of spirits and Zeno smothered laughs.

Closing her eyes, Yona basked in the presence of him-her dragons, her sun and her sun's sun. Her parents floated warm out of sight, along with Won, and Hak was off to the south-east.

"Yona happy. Hiwryuu happy." She whispered to herself as she fell back asleep as her spirits and Zeno continued talking, the murmur of their voices a lullaby.

It would be better if her dragons were beside her, but she could find them in her dreams. And that was enough for now.

Yes, yes I did cry writing the Zeno/Kaya bit.