"Yukito?" Yue asked, looking around.

"Yeah, he was here a second ago," Sakura stammered.

"I know... it's just that I... oh well, I heard him calling me..."

"Did you hear that?" Yue asked Sakura.

"What?"

"I heard Yukito talking. He said he's awake."

Sakura shook her head. Yue brushed his hand through his hair, starting to understand. "I see, so he's talking inside my mind and not to my senses. This is new."

"You mean you've never talked to each other?"

"Only in dreams."

"And what just happened now?"

"A..." Yue began, and halted. "No, that wasn't it." The Guardian frowned and glanced at where the dust rabbit was. "When you asked me what that little magic creature was, Yukito didn't know the answer, but I did..."

"Oh, so you were going to answer and transformed in... Uh, I mean... Ah..."

"I took Yukito's place without noticing it," Yue completed gently. "I was careless, and I'm sorry for startling you."

"It's okay, it's okay!" Sakura laughed nervously, while a sweatdrop showed up over her head. "A dust rabbit, you said?"

Yue nodded. "It's like a small goblin. They live in abandoned houses because there's no one to clean up. When the house is inhabited again, they leave if a diligent person sweeps the dust."

The dust rabbit twitched its ears and started leaping around. Sakura looked at Yue, her eyes shining excitedly. "Yue, would you do me a favor? Would you stay here for a moment watching the dust rabbit while I go find Tomoyo? She'll love to film it!"

"With pleasure," said Yue, although his face expressed otherwise. The Moon Guardian watching a dust rabbit while Tomoyo brought the camera? He could remember a time when NO ONE would have asked him such task... What was Yukito laughing about?

Sakura ran away fast, but halted for moment by the corner. "I'll be right back!"

"Hn."

"Oh, yeah." Yue turned to keep vigil of the rabbit. "How can you be awake?" he asked after a few seconds.

"I don't know... maybe it'll happen once in a while..."

"Yes."

"It scares me too," Yue replied with all sincerity. "It scares me too..."

The two of them contemplated the rabbit in silence for a while.

Yue looked up; the gray clouds assembled quickly by the wind's guidance, and he could sense the drop of temperature. "Oh no," he muttered.

Twenty minutes later, Yue realized he was shivering under the relative protection granted by his wings. The rain and wind were too strong and the water dripped through the feathers, soaking him completely.

Yue's wings glowed for an instant and dissipated into nothing. The rain fell on him like ice needles.

Yue felt his heart shrinking.

Suddenly the rain stopped. No, not stopped, it continued falling down, but it had stopped falling down on Yue. Puzzled, the Guardian looked up to see an umbrella over his head.

"Sakura told me to pick you up," said Touya, shifting the umbrella to his other hand to better shelter them both. "She's at Tomoyo's and will stay over tonight... She was very worried that you could stay here until she came back."

"I think... that she's under the impression that I take what she says too literally, isn't that it? We were just going..."

"We?" Touya arched an eyebrow.

"Yukito and I... He's awake now and... we were talking."

"I see... let's go home."

"Yes."

If Touya was intrigued by the fact that the silvery angel was walking beside him under the umbrella instead of shifting to his false form, he didn't show, although he glanced at him by the corner of the eye every now and then, attentively studying Yue's concentrated demeanor as he proceeded talking to Yukito.

As soon as they got home, Touya took Yue to his bedroom. "Well, first thing is to get you dry, okay?"

"I suppose so, I just have to..."

"Let's see, let me get a towel... your hair will give us a lot of work, right? So I'll go find the Kaijuu's hair dryer..."

Yue stared at Touya, feeling more and more confused by the second. Didn't he know that he could simply use his powers to dry himself as if it had never rained?... And why should he know, after all? Oh, he probably ignored it, it would be best to explain and...

"Here!"

Darkness fell upon Yue, startling him. He took a few seconds to realize that Touya had flung a towel for him to grab, and that he failed to see it in time. Taking the towel off, he searched for Touya with his eyes. "This isn't necessary, I..."

"Of course it is. Or do you want to find out if you're capable of catching pneumonia? Take off your clothes.

"I beg your pardon?

Touya rolled his eyes. "It's soaked and covered with mud! We gotta wash and dry it before you can use it again. Well? What are you waiting for?" he retorted, handing him a bathrobe.

Yue had become mute all of a sudden, doing nothing but staring at him with wide eyes. Touya ignored it heroically, or maybe didn't noticed it because he was walking to the door, from where he turned to eye him one last time and speak to him as if he were a little kid. "Take of your clothes and put that robe on, I'll be back in minute."

With a resigned sighed, the Moon Guardian undressed his outfit and put on the bathrobe.

Touya returned soon afterwards to collect Yue's clothes. "Finish drying your hair," he pointed out.

"What?"

"Oh, all right," Yue murmured, following Yukito's instructions. Touya smiled and left him alone again.

However, he was twenty centimeters from reaching the end of the tresses (and his arms started to feel heavy) when Touya returned.

"Your clothes are in the washing machine," he told him. "Let me help you with this."

Yue eyes suspiciously the device Touya had brought with him and now plugged to an outlet; he had to resort to Yukito's memories to recognize it as a hair dryer. Nonetheless he was surprised at the surge of hot air.

"Be still," Touya ordered him. "It'll be done in one minute."

One minute? Almost half an hour went by and when it was over Yue felt really worn out. Touya doubtfully examined the silvery hair; it wasn't shining as much as he remembered... Maybe the dryer was set too hot? Or was it related to Yue's mood? He seemed a bit depressed, tired perhaps? Or maybe standing in the freezing rain for so long had affected him? Well, perhaps he only needed a little attention...

Yue almost jumped when he felt Touya's hands in his hair again. And now, what was he doing? He managed to turn his head and look at him without showing too much alarm, and found Touya armed with a comb.

"Maybe I should do this," Yue murmured taking the comb from him as gently as possible. Through Yukito's memory he knew too well why Touya's hair was always ruffled like that to allow him to do the same to his. Sure, Touya had the best of intentions, but good intentions alone didn't help much.

"Something wrong?" Touya asked, concerned at the sudden look of disgust in Yue's face.

"No, nothing. I was talking to Yukito," the other replied, looking away. "It seems he's seen more of my memory than I had imagined."

Yue bent his head, fighting the tears.

"I'd like to know what you two are talking about," Touya murmured with a concerned look.

"When... before I had completed one year of life... There was a well near Clow's house, Keroberos made me fall in it once in our first winter; I didn't know how to swim and my wings got in the way, I almost drowned and was sick for a few days. Yukito was making some comments about it," Yue answered very quickly, with the remote hope that Touya wouldn't ask for more details.

"That's interesting... I think I'll ask Yukito to tell me about it later."

Argh! This was even worse than if he had asked for details... Yue focused in combing his hair. After all, it was a nice sensation to be under a roof while outside the deluge went on; if only he didn't feel so cold...

Touya saw him tremble a little, and also noticed a light blue shadow in his lips and fingernails; apparently the silvery angel needed more help to get back to normal. "This robe is too thin, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Yue inquired, as puzzled as his alter ego.

Touya walked towards the door again. "You're shivering cold, didn't you notice? You'd better dress something warmer while your clothes dry. One of my pajamas will do."

He opened the drawer where Touya kept his pajamas and looked inside. The one on top was light gray and seemed warm enough. Sure, it was a size too big for him, but it wouldn't look that bad and...

He had to make a huge effort not to scream in fright when his hands moved on their own to the bottom of the drawer to grab some blue pajamas... with white bunnies around the collar and down the sleeves...

In contrast to Yukito's enthusiasm, Yue was on the verge of panic.

He could almost see Yukito shrugging with a timid smile.

When Touya returned he was surprised to find his bedroom empty. For a moment he wondered if Yue had decided to go after Sakura (which didn't seem very probable, unless he had a second outfit stored somewhere, or had been able to create one through magic... which suddenly sounded very plausible) or if he had transformed back into Yukito, which still didn't explain his absence.

He allowed himself a sigh of relief when he found him in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, legs covered by a blanket, still combing his hair while contemplating the rain out the window. Touya grinned and sat next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, thank you."

"And how's that conversation going?"

"...Mmm... interesting... I never thought Yukito and I would have so much to talk about."

Touya was about to ask him if he was sure he didn't need help with the combing when he realized which pajamas the angel was wearing. The blue ones with the bunnies.

"Why did you put these on?" he asked, pinching one of the sleeves.

"Let's say Yukito convinced me."

It wasn't the clearest of answers, but that would be all that Touya would get for the moment. In a way, it was a matter between Yue and Yukito, something private between mind and soul. Yue was surprised to catch himself smiling... Was that smile his initiative or Yukito's? Did it matter?

The silence was beginning to bother Touya. Were Yue and Yukito still talking?

"I'm gonna make some tea. You want something?" he asked, standing up.

Right as he asked, Touya wished to whack his own head. Offering Yue a snack, knowing perfectly well that the angel didn't eat?

"Yes, please."

"...I beg your pardon?" Touya couldn't believe his ears.

Yue had turned his face away quickly after sensing Touya's look, but the boy could swear that he had seen it blushing.

"My nature keeps me from taking benefit of food as humans do, but doesn't keep me from enjoying it... I wanted to drink something warm."

"Tea? Or maybe milk?"

"Oh... I don't know... Whatever you decide is good."

As he said that, Yue wanted to slap himself. What he wanted was a cup of hot chocolate; it had been so many years since the last time he had tasted it that he couldn't even remember the savor; but he couldn't say it. Yes, Yukito was right: he always associated the idea of hot chocolate with the feeling of being safe... no, with the certainty of being loved, that's what it was. Clow had made him hot chocolate whenever he had needed a display of affection that wasn't necessarily physical. He had had plenty of those too, but this drink that could grant him no benefit or damage was somehow a sign of love as real as the best of all caresses. He heard Touya handling something in the kitchen, probably the teapot, and resigned himself; yes, whatever Touya had chosen would be fine, any warm drink would be enough to drive the cold away...

"Here," said Touya after a few minutes.

Yue stared at the cup he offered, not daring to touch it.

"What's wrong?" asked Touya, alarmed at the entirely new expression in the angel's eyes.

"Chocolate..." Yue murmured.

"Yeah, well... I thought it would be appropriate. Oh, you don't like it, is that it? I'll make you something el...

Carefully, Yue took the cup in both his hands, as if fearing to break it. "With two marshmallows..." he added.

"Well... yes..."

"Thank you."

As he watched Yue drinking the chocolate, savoring it slowly and almost reverently as if performing a religious ceremony, Touya was about to forget his own cup of tea. "You like it?" he asked, fairly intrigued.

"Very much."

"Then... why I never see you eating or drinking anything? Yukito eats twice what a normal person does, and the yellow stuffed toy eats for four, but not you..."

"This... is something I save for special occasions," Yue said softly. "It's more precious for me this way."

"And... the bunny pajamas?"

"Those... are precious to Yukito," Yue replied, avoiding his gaze, but just as quickly smiled and looked at him in the eyes. "Yes, that's it. Those are his treasure and the hot chocolate is mine. I believe... we're starting to find some agreement, in a way to speak."

"Well... And what would you... both of you... like to do now? Maybe watch a good movie on TV. We could make some popcorn and watch it together."

"So?" inquired Touya.

"The chocolate is enough," Yue grinned. "But the movie sounds like a good idea. What's programmed for today?"

One and half hour later, Touya noticed that the rain was losing strength, but then it was night already. He thought about making a remark about it to Yue, but found that the Guardian had fallen asleep at some point, head resting on his shoulder and a tender smile slightly curving his lips.

He caressed the silver hair gently; yes, it shined as bright and fascinating as always, maybe helped by the combing, or for the fair improvement in Yue's mood.

Vaguely, he wondered if he should carry him to the bedroom, but he felt so cozy right now...

Without realizing it, Touya began dozing off as well.

Cuddling closer to Touya, Yue grinned at the evil satisfaction in finding that he was able to give his alter ego a mental whack on the head.