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I Know You're Out There Somewhere	By : Firewing Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 3536 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 39
- 40
- 41
Chapter 40 The Return of Lost Souls

~*~*~*~
Bakura hissed and backed away from the advancing pharaoh, one hand instinctively clutching the Ring, although it might as well have been a simple necklace by then. The Millennium Item was conscious of the fact that he had lost the duel, and so withheld its power from him. Cursing, he attempted to throw it down, but the angry spires dug painfully into his chest before abruptly releasing.

Tristan and Croquet exchanged a single glance of silent communication in the moment while Bakura struggled with the Ring. Before the tomb robber could cast it aside, the two men quickly grabbed Bakura�s arms and pinned them to his sides.
�Return Joey and Ryou's souls to their bodies, and I promise I will do no more to you than seal your spirit within the Millennium Ring.� The sennen eye blazed brightly on the center of Yami�s forehead as he spoke, his imperious words underscored by the rose-colored flames dancing in his eyes. Against his chest, the Puzzle glowed, and Bakura glared even as he struggled against the two men holding him in place.
�No! Never! I will not submit to you, Pharaoh, not if I lose a thousand duels!� he cried obstinately, and Tristan fought the urge to backhand him across the face.
Yami grimaced. �Then you have left me no choice. Mind Crush!�
The magical blow fell with such force that Ryou's temporarily soulless shell flew back, dragging both Croquet and Tristan down with it. Silence reigned on the beach as everyone waited for some sign that Yami's spell had worked, and it was an agonizing five seconds later that Ryou's eyes cracked open just enough for the dawn's soft light to flow into them.
�Tristan?� Ryou asked uncertainly, craning his neck to verify that the man standing over him was, in fact, his friend and not another monster spawned of the Shadow Realm.
�Ryou?� Tristan responded warily, searching for the slightest sign that the person inhabiting Ryou's body was anyone but said body's rightful owner.
His task complete, Yami relinquished control of their body to Yugi, who stretched out a hand to his fellow hikari. �It�s okay, Ryou. You�re safe now. Yami sealed Bakura in the Millennium Ring, and he won�t be able to take control again unless you summon him.�
Yugi's explanation was unnecessary; even as he spoke, the white-haired boy could hear Bakura screaming in a wordless rage from within the Ring. With a relieved laugh, he snapped their mental link closed and grabbed Yugi in a desperate bear hug. �This is real, isn't it? I�m not in the Shadow Realm!�
�No, you�re not,� Yugi confirmed with a grin.
Tea stepped forward to give the albino blond a hug of her own. �Welcome back, Ryou.�
�Yeah, man, it�s good to have you back,� Tristan said, and the slightly-too-vigorous thump on the back that punctuated his statement nearly sent Ryou back down into the sand.
Their happy interlude came to an abrupt end, however, when Ryou noticed Pegasus standing off to the side, looking for all the world like a statue carved from ivory and silver. �Oh my� Cecelia�� he muttered, and needed no further prodding to recount all that he had seen during his extended absence.
~*~*~*~
Joey woke up drenched in sweat with Mokuba curled up against him. It had to be a hundred degrees in the room, he decided as he shifted beneath what felt like a ton of blankets. A fire crackled merrily a few feet away, and despite Jou's best efforts to kick off the blankets and get away from the flames, Mokuba's presence prevented all but the most minute of movements.
�Kuba, wake up." The boy didn't so much as stir. "Hey, c'mon! I�m roasting here!�
At length, Mokuba sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily before the full implications of his present situation sank in. �Joey! You�re okay!� He wrapped his arms around Jou�s neck, nearly strangling and further warming the already-overheated blond.
�I�can�t�breathe�� Jou managed to choke out, and Mokuba quickly released him. Brother or not, Seto would never forgive him if he managed to suffocate Jou a scant few moments after the blond boy's awakening.
As Jou pulled himself free, he suddenly realized he was in the family room, and memories began to drop back into place. The bonfire on the beach, Bakura�s kiss�ugh, that was repulsive�the Shadow Realm, Ryou, his fading and translucent mother�
In his urgency to his feet, Jou nearly tripped over the too-long blue pajama pants he was wearing. Growling in frustration, he tried to pull them up, only to find his efforts thwarted when the long sleeves of the silk pajama shirt slid down his hands. What the heck am I wearing? �Mokuba, where is everybody?�
�I don�t know,� Mokuba frowned. �Croquet shot Seto and� I don�t remember much after that. I must have fallen asleep.�
�What!? What do you mean �Croquet shot Seto�?! Is he okay? Where is he?� Panic tripled the volume of Jou's voice, but before he could get an explanation out of Seto�s little brother, a blazing light invaded the family room through the windows facing the beach.
That was all it took to get a slightly-unsteady Jou running for the back door, Mokuba following close behind. In his rush to get outside, however, Joey nearly bowled over the very object of his all-consuming worry. �Seto! Are you all right? Kuba said--�
He was cut off temporarily, however, when a cheery, white-haired teenager nearly crushed his rib cage in an overly-enthusiastic hug, pushing past Seto to do so. The brunet staggered, but to his credit, managed to remain upright. �Joey! I'm so glad to see you!" Ryou beamed. "I'll be right back; I�ve got to get the Millennium Eye. We�re going to save Cecelia!�
�What? Now? The Millennium Eye is here? Bakura brought it with him?� In his confusion, Jou forgot to wait for a reply before asking another question, hating the feeling that he was the only one who wasn't up-to-date on the current situation.
Ryou nodded a global �yes� as he dashed across the deck, realizing almost immediately that the house was wholly foreign to him. "Joey, could you..." His voice trailed off abruptly as he turned around and found Jou engaged in a desperate embrace with the cold, insensitive man who had, the last Ryou had heard, been the blond man's worst enemy. He filed this information away to be pursued later, and redirected his question, �Uh, Mokuba, could you show me to Bakura�s room?�
The younger teen nodded, trotting off toward the stairs. Joey was back in Seto�s arms and, as far as Mokuba was concerned, all was right with the world once more.
Once they were alone, Seto forced himself to pull away just far enough to stare at Jou through tear-glazed eyes. �I was so worried, Jou,� he whispered. "... that I'd never see you again..." The effort of articulating such overpowering emotions overcame him then, and he exhaled with a shudder as Jou clutched him even tighter than he had before.
"You should know you won't lose me that easily by now, genius,� he said affectionately, Behind Seto, Croquet was starting toward the house, and seeing his father's lover reminded Jou of the reason he had been so frantic a scant minute or so ago. �Mokuba said that Croquet shot you, Seto. He was joking, right? I mean, I'm sure...� Amber eyes slid down slender hips and toned thighs to stare in disbelief at the pink-tinted bandage wrapped around Seto's calf. "He didn't."
�He did,� Seto deadpanned.
Joey's fists clenched, and he would have attacked Croquet right then and there had Seto's embrace not been so comfortingly unyielding. �Leave it be for now, Jou. I need you to help me get up to the library; Ryou said your mother doesn't have much time, and I'm the only one that can set up all that equipment."
"You finished the program?" Surprised by this revelation, Jou forgot his desire for revenge on Croquet.
�Yes," replied his lover honestly, "but I haven't had a chance to run the diagnostics on it." He stopped to stare into soft, admiring amber pools. "It might not work, Jou."
"Then at least you tried, baby blue eyes," replied Joey softly.
~*~*~*~
Several minutes later, Jou, Mokuba, and Ryou had Seto set up on the deck with his laptop and a crude but serviceable holo projector. Seeing that their work was done, Pegasus beckoned the boys over to him, and together they watched as the sky lightened in the east, hailing the dawn of a new day. If they were successful, the sun would not be the only entity to experience rebirth that day, and that thought set both excitement and fear roiling in Max's stomach. From what Ryou had told them, it was obvious to him that, if they failed here, Cecelia would be forever lost to them, and that was something he would not be able to bear a second time. Although he knew that, whatever happened, he would always have Christopher, living with the certainty that his wife's soul had been completely obliterated would be more than his fragile psyche could handle.
Ryou extended a plain box to him then, which he took in trembling hands. For the briefest, most fleeting of moments, he contemplated hurling it far out into the ocean, but then Chris was at his side, and he had all the courage and strength he believed he would ever need. The lid of the box separated from the rest with a creak, and once again, Maximillion Pegasus gazed upon the Millennium Eye.
Yami had taken up Jou�s vacated post at Seto�s side, whispering conspirationally into his ear, �I believe whatever instability still exists within your program, Kaiba, can be countered by the same magic I use to manifest my own physical body.�
Seto rolled his eyes. The pharaoh could be quite the arrogant little twit, but Seto had yet to figure out whether or not the King of Games did it purposely or not. �My program is not unstable,� he snarled. �I just haven�t had a chance to test it.�
Yami frowned, and the emotion behind his face looked suspiciously like disappointment. �I had hoped the duel had taught you the value of unity, Kaiba. Pegasus is about to reclaim the Millennium Eye and, while he seems to be fine without it, I�m sure neither of us has the desire to experience his particular brand of evil again. We must therefore be cautious, and, if he exhibits any signs of his former criminal insanity, be prepared to take appropriate countermeasures.� Yami sighed. �I wish there was another way, one that didn�t involve the use of the Eye. Pegasus is a good man at heart; I truly believe that all he did can be blamed on the power of his Millennium Item. Perhaps they are not all driven by benevolent forces.� The spirit�s hand passed over his Puzzle once, thoughtfully.
Seto�s eyes widened in surprise, Yami's words echoed Jou's, and he heard his lover's voice clearly in his mind once again, reminding him that it might have been the Millennium Eye that had driven Pegasus to such desperate, insane lengths. His eyes found Jou, standing by his father, and though Seto's myriad fears concerning the Duel Monsters inventor still held him in their savage claws, he had to admit the validity in his rival and his lover's twin points.

�Agreed,� he answered the pharaoh shortly, meeting the crimson orbs with his own disdainful cerulean ones.
Yami nodded, satisfied that he and Kaiba had reached an understanding, and turned to watch Pegasus as he handed the box containing the Millennium Eye to Joey.
As Max put the box in his child�s hands, he knelt, consigning his fate to unknowable forces and his faith to the growing bond between himself and Joseph. Absently, he brushed aside the silver veil concealing his empty eye socket and gazed up at the bewildered expression on his son�s face. Wordlessly, Christopher's strong hands settled on his master�s shoulders, and Pegasus steeled himself as best he could against the moment of truth. Though he had mentioned it to no one, it was possible that the Eye, having been stripped from him, would now reject him. Shadi�s warning of nightmares and madness echoed through Max�s mind, but he had already faced both, and believed he had come out on the far side strengthened by the experience. At best, if the Eye did accept him, the onslaught of its powerful magic and the tidal surge of thought and emotion would overcome him as the flood gates of the minds of the those around him opened upon his own. He hoped that Christopher would be enough of an anchor to hold him together.
�Chris, this will hurt,� Pegasus warned his protector.
�Yes, Master Pegasus,� Croquet acknowledged stoically. He would have held his lover in his arms if he could; for now, though, he would have to be satisfied with squeezing his shoulders reassuringly.
Joey gulped as he realized what Pegasus wanted him to do. �Father�I don�t know if I can do this�� He stared at the sinister Eye in the unassuming box, and it seemed to glare back at him mockingly.
�Joseph, please. Now is hardly the time for hesitation or contemplation,� Pegasus encouraged his son, and there was an unmistakable note of exasperation underlying his tone.
Joey picked up the golden orb and positioned it in front of the hollow socket in Pegasus� face. He could feel a throb of energy pulse through it, as though the Eye were anticipating its reunion with its former host, and shuddered visibly. Get it together, Jou. He needs you to be strong for him.

�I love you, Father,� he whispered, just loud enough for Pegasus to hear, and pushed the Millennium Eye into place.
For the briefest moment, Pegasus rejected it. He hated the damnable item and all that had been wrought because of it. Then it was as if the Eye ignited. Its power eclipsed that of the white-hot poker Kaiba had intended to spear him with, and he was blinded by pain. His hands clenched into balled fists, and tiny rivulets of blood ran from where his carefully manicured fingernails cut into his palms.
His senses came rushing back to him all at once, the colors and smells and the grit of the sand grinding through his silk pajama pants. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as he bit down to restrain the aching desire to scream. The sound of his pounding heart competed with the ocean waves as they both increased steadily in volume. Worse than that, though, were the sounds that could not be heard, but instead sliced into his mind; the madness of thought, jumbled and confused, and the echoes of emotions that were not his own. In spite of being armed with foreknowledge of this exquisite pain, he found that he could no longer hold back the terrible piercing cry that forced its way up from the very depths of his soul.
Croquet did cradle Max in his arms then, feeling the undeniable helplessness he always did when confronted by magic. Pegasus slowly became aware of the embrace and probed Chris� mind experimentally. What he found amid the fierce loyalty and a love too deep for words was a formidable disdain for all things magical and a resignation toward the capriciousness of fate. So it seems some things do not change in the course of fate�s whimsy, he thought to himself.

�Max?� Chris whispered in his ear, �are you okay?�
�Yes.� Pegasus pushed himself up on Croquet�s arms as he stood, and his bodyguard rose with him. He noticed the concerned looks the teens were giving him, but especially Joseph�s as his son reached to help him regain his balance. �I�m fine, son,� he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile; it felt more like a grimace. Joey looked at his father in disbelief as he and Croquet helped him to a chair on the deck. � I just need a few moments to recover, and perhaps a glass of water?� he suggested to Croquet.
But Chris was not about to leave his master�s side, even for a moment, so Jou went to fulfill Pegasus� request. The silver-haired man drained half the glass gratefully when his son returned, trying to ignore a very impatient Yami as he stalked toward them. �Are we ready to begin?�
�Yes, pharaoh-boy.� And indeed, Pegasus was, energized by the magic of the Millennium Eye. He rose to his feet as gracefully as ever, still refusing to acknowledge the full implications of what they were about to attempt. It was of utmost importance that he maintained a razor-sharp focus on the moment, releasing the past and allowing the future to bring what it would. Christopher was having a conniption fit in the privacy of his mind, and so Pegasus was forced to shut him out as completely as possible, although doing so gave him no comfort and, in fact, removed some. With a sigh, he joined Ryou and Yami in a rough triangle around the holo-projector.
�Is there anything the rest of us can do to help?� Serenity asked from between her brother and her boyfriend. She held their hands tightly, as though she were afraid one of them might get away.
�Yes, there is,� Tea replied, looking at the boys on either side of the petite girl. �Remember when Yugi was in the Shadow Realm during the final duel with Pegasus?�
�Yeah, Tea, we can all give them our support. Not just Yami and Yugi, but Ryou and Pegasus too.� Joey told her defensively. He firmly put Serenity�s hand in Tea�s, remembering that there was somebody else who could benefit from some moral support, and went to join Seto even as Mokuba ran to join the other teens.
Tea blinked, surprised more by her own insensitivity than Jou�s rebuke. She hadn�t meant that comment the way it had come off. Ever since she had read Maximillion Pegasus� journal, she�d known there was much more to the man than what there seemed to be. Sighing, she took Mokuba�s hand in her free one and looked at the three bearers of Millennium items. �We�ll be right there with you, guys!�
Yami nodded. They were going to need all the help they could get, and the strength of their friendship was a force to be reckoned with.
Stealthily, Jou draped an arm over Seto�s shoulders and whispered intimately in his ear, �Even if this doesn�t work, it means more than I can say that you wanted to do this for me. I love you, Seto.� He kissed the angular cheekbone sweetly, and blue eyes turned to meet brown in deeply heartfelt gratitude.
Ryou, facing the deck, watched this scene play out, and his jaw dropped. The last he knew, those two had been mortal enemies. Much has changed since I was banished to the Shadow Realm, he reflected.
Draping one arm around Jou, Seto used the other to flick the button on his crude yet functional holo-projector. The sennen eye appeared on Yami�s forehead, and the three Millennium items glowed as those that possessed them activated their power. A shower of fairy lights exploded from the machine, coalescing into a perfectly reproduced holographic image of Cecelia in a simple knee length white sundress.
~*~*~*~
In the Shadow Realm, Cecelia�s English forest began to disappear as the last trace of her transparent form faded away.
Gina sat very still; she could still feel Lady Pegasus� soul, even though she could no longer see her. Though she was happy that Cecelia would be going back where she belonged, Gina mourned the loss of a friend. With a wistful smile, she rose, staff in hand, and spun a lightning fast pirouette before folding in on herself and vanishing.
Before she lost all sense of Cecelia, she would leave her a calling card, just in case her mistress ever needed the spunky duel monster again.
~*~*~*~
A tremendous power surge went through Seto�s laptop, instantly frying the hard drive as the holo-projector sparked and smoked in its own death throes. The present-day mortals were stunned as the hologram of Cecelia Pegasus wavered, blinked, and disappeared, and the bitter silence of disappointment hung over the beach.
Jou�s breath caught a moment later, however, when a vertical slit appeared above Seto�s crudely fashioned holo-projector. It grew and widened like a doorway between dimensions. Curiosity drew him toward it, hope filling his heart, and he reached with outstretched hands into it, drawing his mother through the narrow rift.
�Mom�� Joey whispered, awestruck. He released her hands before enfolding her in his arms.
After a moment, she drew away from him, and her eyes searched his. �Joseph, is this real? Am I alive, really alive?�
Pegasus went to her, just as astounded by the realization of his dream as she was.
�Maximillion�� She turned from her son to her one true love, her only love, and laid her head against his chest. The sensation was beyond exquisite. Wordlessly, he embraced her as gently and delicately as though she were a soap bubble that might vanish on contact.
�Please stay,� he pleaded.
�I intend to,� Cecelia replied around a laugh.
Max's honey brown eye widened as the golden one revealed the truth behind her seemingly-illusory presence. His lady was once again whole, body and soul, and he felt old scars on his own spirit as they began to fade under the power of her healing touch.
Cecelia suddenly realized that she was clutching something in her hand, and pulled away from her husband to examine it. "A playing card?" she said confusedly.
�It�s a Duel Monsters card.� Pegasus explained patiently, recognizing his company's primary product at a glance.
Joey leaned in, placing a hand on each of his parents' shoulders as he gazed at the card curiously. Suddenly, he grinned. �Not just any Duel Monsters card. Looks like Gina didn�t want to lose you either, Mom.�
�Cecelia, I�m so happy that you�re all right,� Ryou told her enthusiastically. He had waited politely for as long as he could before taking his turn to welcome the golden haired angel back to their world.
She smiled radiantly at him. �Thank you, Ryou-mouse. Your friendship has meant more to me than I can say.�
Ryou�s face lit up with pleasure, but he was still hesitant to face Pegasus after all that Bakura had done in his guise.
�Though your yami is a troublemaker of the highest order, I blame you for nothing,� the silver-haired man reassured him, reading his mind.
Ryou started to form a protest, but it died, unspoken, on his lips . This was not the time to berate himself for his lack of control over Bakura. �Thank you. I�m glad you�re okay, too.�
�Mom, you�ve got to meet my friends,� Joey said, gently pulling Cecelia from his father�s grasp and leading her over to where the others were clustered.
Pegasus was reluctant to lose physical contact with her, his heart still not convinced that their combined efforts and talents had truly succeeded in resurrecting her. He owed those he�d wronged in the process of realizing his dream a tremendous debt, one he would pay later. For the time being, however, he owed an even greater debt to another.
He turned, locking his eyes with Christopher's and instantly losing himself in the steely, inscrutable gaze of his protector, friend, and lover. Croquet returned the look with equanimity, bowing formally in order to hide his misty eyes. �Congratulations, Sir. I wish you both the very best.� Straightening, he gave Max a short salute. It had all happened so fast that he hadn�t had the chance to absorb the impact of the events of the last few hours, and watching the tailspin that had once been his most treasured fantasy was making him ill. �With your permission, Master Pegasus, I should like to get some rest.�
�Yes, Christopher, of course.� Pegasus reached out to squeeze his bodyguard's upper arm, and surprise flickered across his face as the other man stepped away casually. Then, Christopher was gone, and Pegasus watched his lover stride up toward the beach house with a confident step that the bearer of the Millennium Eye knew mirrored nothing in his heart.
Seto was still on the steps of the deck when Jou brought Cecelia over to introduce her to the man who had recreated her body. In their wake trailed excited, praise-lavishing teenagers, who soon had the technological genius surrounded.
�It� worked.� Seto stared at Jou with huge, wonder-filled eyes as he spoke, still shocked that he had been able to fulfill his promise.
Joey laughed in response. �Of course it did, genius. Now, you need to get some sleep.� After a brief round of introductions, he helped Seto up, draping one of his boyfriend's arms over his shoulders so that the brunet could hobble into the house without putting any weight on his injured leg. Seto smiled gratefully at him, the gesture so minute that only Jou realized his lips had moved at all.
Yami had retreated into his soul room as soon as Bakura was dealt with, so drained by the proceedings that he didn't think he would be able to re-emerge for another five thousand years. Tea was hugging Yugi enthusiastically, and Tristan had wrapped his arms around Serenity possessively. Despite their outward appearances, they were all just as exhausted as Yami, and it occurred to Yugi just how unfair it was that Seto and Jou should be the only couple that could take comfort from each other after the trials of the night.
�I think we should switch rooms, just for today," he suggested. "After all, we all need to get some rest. Mokuba, would you mind sharing our room with Ryou?�

Oh, my gosh, I don�t ever want to be a horny teenager! Mokuba thought, misinterpreting Yugi�s platonic intentions. �Okay, Yugi. Come on, Ryou; let�s get your stuff.�
The rest of the group followed them, everyone satisfied with what they had achieved. However, for Croquet, there would be little enough to celebrate once they had reclaimed enough energy to do so. While he was genuinely happy for Max and Cecelia, his legs seemed leaden, and it was only with a great effort that he was able to force them to work at all. His plan was to retrieve his possessions from his and Max�s bedroom and claim the library as his new quarters. From there, he would play things by the proverbial ear and see what happened.
Neither he nor Max had expected the night before last to be their last together. For years, Cecelia had existed only as a memory that Pegasus was determined to retrieve, and though Chris had always supported his lover's dreams, this one had been fulfilled far too soon for his liking. Nevertheless, though, Chris had a promise to keep, and regardless of the savage longing tearing at his heart, he would remain true to his word.
On the deck he paused, looking back at the happily re-united couple. He was only too aware that Max had never looked at him the way he looked at his queen, and not even the bubbling bitterness was enough to pierce the numbing shell that had settled over his heart.
~*~*~*~
Pegasus had been lost in his lady�s eyes for so long that he failed to notice that they were alone on the beach until long after the others had already gone inside. Once he did, however, shyness overcame him. Here she was, his dream of seventeen years, as alive and radiant as she had been on the day of their wedding, and all he could do was gawk mutely at her.
�Maximillion?�
�Is this a dream?� he asked, his voice small and childlike. He was afraid to believe that she was real, though his passion for her was so intense that it pained him. Suddenly, throwing caution to the tides, he kissed her, his lips carrying to hers a yearning so long denied that it seemed infinite.
�No, beloved, it�s real. I�m real. When you wake from the rest you so sorely need, I will still be here,� she promised in a whisper once their kiss broke, stroking her husband's silver mane soothingly. �Shall we go inside?� She took his hand, intending to draw him toward the house. Though she herself felt vibrant and fresh, she recognized his need for repose.
More than shock that kept Pegasus rooted to the spot. She was a perfect eighteen-year-old girl for whom time had stopped, who had spent almost as many years in the Shadow Realm as she had in her own dimension. He, on the other hand, had aged, and felt it now as he never had before.
Max looked toward the house, catching Chris� eyes for the briefest moment as his protector entered the building. Christopher had been correct; he had had seventeen years in which to prepare for the eventualities beyond his single-minded focus on his bride�s resurrection, and yet he had failed looked to examine what lay beyond the moment with the same intensity. The fact remained, however, that they were different people than they had been.
With the assistance of the Millennium Eye, he gently caressed her mind, and her desire for the careless stability that could only be achieved through denial mirrored his own. Cecelia was, in fact, quite eager to embrace her second chance to live the life they had both dreamed of, and he wondered if her ability to accept him for the man he had become was as infinite as she believed it to be, and he wished it were. However, Max had all too recently been given his own second chance at life, and though he had believed the ghosts of his past buried with his wife, he had found it all too easy to accept Seto Kaiba's offer. Clean breaks with one's own past are impossible.

�My darling, darling Cecelia�� he murmured, kneeling before her in the sand as he took her hands in his. Reverently, he gazed into the crystalline depths of her eyes, and she stared back, worry clouding her perfect features.
Max kissed her palms, sensing her doubts and misgivings, yet still determined to tell her the truth. After all this time chasing her shadow, he owed her reality that much. �It�s been seventeen years--�
�There�s another woman,� Cecelia finished for him, her voice betraying the warring emotions in her heart. Of course there would have been others, she told herself. She could not, would not have expected her husband to leap into the grave with her. Still, she was confused. He had brought her back, had wanted her back. Would he truly be so cruel as to have returned her to life only to cast her out of his heart completely? �Love eternal will not be denied,� she whispered, her voice cracking despite her brave, regal facade.
�No, it will not, Lady Pegasus, and I shall eternally love you,� he promised, the soothingly spoken words only adding to her bewilderment. The mere knowledge that she could doubt him wounded his heart; he could not bear to have her faith in him compromised. �There have been no other women; I am not so arbitrary with my heart, Cecelia.� Though he wanted to be honest with her, he recognized that that moment might not have been the ideal time to make a full confession.
Fortunately, she seemed to accept his statement at face value, and he caressed her bare arms lovingly, enthralled by her silken flesh. "Would you care to stay outside a while longer? I have no particular wish to retire as yet."
She grinned devilishly, the expression in sharp contrast to her angelic features. �Has it been so long, my love, that you've forgotten that beds have more than one use?�
If the events of his wife�s return had been sudden to him before, they had sped up to a sickening speed now, and Max' brow crinkled as he sought to recover his mental equilibrium. �I had had something else in mind, my darling,� he confessed, and Cecelia rolled her eyes teasingly.
�Please, Maximillion, don�t tell me you want me to sit for yet another portrait to commemorate the occasion," she said jokingly. "If you spend too much time trying to immortalize life, you'll forget to live it."
�Perhaps later, my love.� He returned her smile tenfold. �No, actually, I had just realized that your wardrobe is rather limited��
She giggled, wiggling her bare toes in the sand. �And, of course, you have a plan to ameliorate this travesty?�
�Indeed I have,� he chuckled, drawing her to her feet and toward the house. There were a thousand things that he wanted to tell her and twice that many he wanted to ask, but he only laughed, sweeping the woman he loved off her feet into an embrace that was more of a dance. �I love you, Cecelia. I love you.�
She laughed until she cried, and he set her down reverently. �Are you hungry, Lady Pegasus? Croquet fixes a mean omelette, and then he can drive us into town. We�ll expand your wardrobe and--�
Cecelia cut off his gushing tirade with a hand on his arm, smiling up at him indulgently. �As you wish, my love,� she replied simply.
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