It's literally been years since I last wrote anything, whether it's Kyou Kara Maou or anything else. What sickens me is that it's not as though I haven't had any time recently, nor was it that I didn't have any ideas; it was actually because I didn't know if I should continue my neglected fics first or start a new one before my idea was taken. Also, now that I have decided to start a new fic first, I have no idea how to start it. Anyway, forgive me if it sucks, but I'm writing it the way I want to.

Disclaimer : I do not own Kyou Kara Maou. I also do not own Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy. I'm just using him as a person in this fic. Squall will probably be nothing like himself in this fic.

.:Life's Treasures:.

Gentle winds caressed porcelain cheeks. It felt good. Cooling. Nostalgic. Wolfram felt the grass around him blow slightly in the breeze. He brushed against the empty space next to him, remembering a situation that occurred right at that very spot just a few years ago. A sad smile found its way to his face.

No, don't go thinking of that now. He had to stop himself from getting back on that train of thought. He's been down that road far too many times. For now, just relax and enjoy yourself. By yourself. All...alone. Damn, this isn't working.

Getting up from the grassy grounds, he dusted off some imaginary dust from his spotless uniform. His white mare stood patiently by a nearby tree, hoofing the ground slightly at the realisation that her master was probably ready to make a move. Sure enough, Wolfram walked towards the steed and pet her lovingly on the forehead.

"Come on, girl," he whispered "Let's go home."

He swiftly got himself onto the saddle before getting hold of the reins and directing his horse back towards the castle. As soon as the horse trotted a few steps, it was gently halted by the blond. The white creature turned its head to watch her master stare back at the grassy hill where he had been laying for half the day. The tree that was providing his shade was casting longer shadows now that the sun was beginning to sink into the horizon. Used to this behaviour by now, the mare made a small, somewhat understanding noise.

Journeys like this one weren't often, nor were they on the verge of ceasing. It was almost as though everytime the mare was just about to forget the route and routine of these trips, Wolfram would take her on one. Another few silent minutes passed. It was almost sunset, yet Wolfram would never stay to watch one. The hillside was a perfect place to watch the sunset. This hill in particular was probably more special than all the others combined.

And yet...

Right on cue, as the grand sun began to show signs of its departure, the blond pulled himself together, turned away from the hill, tree and sunset and rode his steed steadily back to the castle. Nothing particularly special about this trip; it was almost exactly the same routine. It was that time of year again. Wolfram von Bielefield would take a break from his regular duties. Training his troops. Patrolling the borders. Doing paperwork. Chasing his fiancé around the castle for things that he himself knew couldn't have happened.

"Yuuri..." he breathed. A battle was waged inside his head if he should quicken his pace home. Today. Today of all days. Yuuri was coming back from Earth. A small sigh escaped the golden-haired beauty as he slightly urged his mare to move a little faster. It wasn't as if it really mattered. It wasn't as if Yuuri would notice if he was there to welcome him back or not.

Argh... but still-! The soldier began to rush his now rather confused steed. The autumn sky was quickly darkening and knowing Yuuri (and everyone else for that matter), even he'd start wondering where Wolfram was. Another sad smile. Was this really going to be the only way that Yuuri would really notice him? In any case, not being around to welcome your King after he had returned from anywhere would be a great insult. Even if Wolfram didn't care how Yuuri'd react to his disappearance, he shuddered to think what Gwendal would do to him.

KKM

"This is...odd." Gunter commented to the dinner table "Usually whenever Little Lord Brat goes out by himself, he still has the courtesy to join the family for dinner. It's already dark out and there's no sign of him."

"Gunter!" Gwendal stared.

"But, Gwendal! Surely it is absolutely unacceptable to be absent from a dinner with our wondrous King who has just returned from what must have been an exhausting journey between worlds!"

"Gunter," Yuuri tried to calm things down "It's really no big deal to travel from Shin Makoku to Earth, or vice-versa. Seriously. It's quite a quick trip, you know."

"Ah... Your Majesty! Such sublime understanding and forgiveness! You truly are our nation's King!" the silver-haired man gushed.

Conrad finally spoke up as Yuuri started scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Your Majesty."

Yuuri quickly stopped scratching himself and gave his godfather 'The Look'. Conrad caught it soon enough. "Yuuri," he corrected himself, as sick as everyone else was with the 'You named me after all' speech. "Even so, is it all right for us to wait until Wolfram returns before we can begin dinner? Are you hungry?"

Before the double-black could even answer, Gwendal burst out, his vein throbbing "Of course, we will wait for him! The King should learn to anticipate someone else's presence! We cannot have you thinking that everyone will spend their lives waiting on your every wish, even if you are the King! Try thinking about others for a change!" he finished, having enough of seeing his baby brother spend hours waiting for his fiancé, but never receiving any acknowledgement for it.

The huge wooden doors to the Dining Room opened suddenly to reveal a rather exhausted blond beauty. The room went silent. Truth be told, everyone but Yuuri knew why Wolfram went out in the first place. Still, no one expected him to be absent from Yuuri's little 'Welcome back to Shin Makoku' party. Slowly closing the doors behind him, Wolfram made his way to the round dining table, where everyone else had somewhat snapped out of their trances and had begun to gather for a long awaited dinner.

Yuuri took his usual seat next to Wolfram's, still unsure of what had just happened. He decided to let it slide as he picked up his spork and started eating the Shin Makoku style steak on his plate. His eyes couldn't help but wander towards the blond next to him. Wolfram chewed really slowly. In fact, it seemed somewhat slower than usual. His jade eyes looked tired. Unfocused. Uncaring. It was as though he had something on his mind.

I wonder what's going on in that head of his... Yuuri wondered. Did he leave something back wherever he went just now? Wait... HEY! He didn't greet me like everyone else when I came back from Earth! Where... was he? It then hit him that everyone at the table had the same look on their face as they ate in silence. Something was up, and he knew he had to find out what it was before he said or did something inappropriate and got into trouble. He slowly put his spork down and sat up straight as he tried to start a conversation with Wolfram.

"Uh..." he began expertly "So... Wolfram. Where did you go today?"

Somewhere around the table, a few utensils fell and hit the table and floor. The clanging sound of it was almost deafening from the silence that hung in the air. Wolfram swallowed and looked Yuuri in the eye, somewhat emotionlessly.

"I went to visit a friend." He answered simply.

Gwendal and Gunter exchanged worried looks. Conrad continued eating. Though they tried to make it look like they didn't care, nothing else seemed more important right now than finding out what was to come. No one ever asked Wolfram that question during this time of year because everyone already knew. They mentally smacked themselves for not enlightening Yuuri before about this matter, but now it was too late. They could do nothing but watch.

"Oh, your friend!" Yuuri replied, oblivious to the tension he was creating in the room "How are they doing? Are they coming to visit?"

Gunter turned green.

"Well, he... He's doing fine, I suppose. He can't visit, so that's why I went to see him instead."

"I see!" the double-black was all smiles. This was going well. "Was it a fun visit? Did you all have fun together?"

Gwendal turned white.

Wolfram paused briefly, remembering that during his visit, he had reminisced about the old times quite a bit. He smiled, "Yeah... It was fun."

He's smiling! I made Wolfram smile! This is going great! "Cool... I wanna meet your friend too, Wolf! You should've waited for me so we could go together!"

Conrad continued eating.

Wolfram's smile faltered slightly, but he managed to hide it in time before replying, "I'm sorry, Yuuri. I'll bring you next time, alright?" No one ever followed him to meet his 'friend'. Wolfram was happy that way. Then, no one could do anything if he were to do anything embarrassing. Gwendal and Queen Cecilie used to go with him, but not anymore. Gunter went with Giesela just last week. Everyone went at their own time.

Yuuri smiled back at his fiancé. Honestly, he didn't really bother to think that Wolfram could have friends. Wolfram never mentioned any of them, nor did any of them try to contact him. As far as he knew, that is. Satisfied that he must've relaxed the room considerably, he continued eating his dinner. Wolfram watched him eat for a while, his smile still plastered in place. Gunter and Gwendal managed to recover slightly from their bout of sudden face-colour change.

Dinner ended on a surprisingly somewhat lighter note. After bidding goodnight to one another, everyone adjourned to their bedchambers. Wolfram followed Yuuri back to their room. Greta was having a sleepover all the way in Cavalcade with Beatrice and wouldn't be back for some time. There wasn't really a reason to sleep in Yuuri's bedroom right now other than the fact that his things were already all in his room.

Still, Yuuri had gotten used to this over the years. This time next month, he would've been in Shin Makoku for 3 years. Endless nights of battling with a determined Wolfram only exhausted him. It was simply easier to just give in to the blond whenever he was like this. Marriage, however, was a completely different topic. All these years and he still hasn't found the guts to break up with Wolfram. His best friend. How could one possibly put their best friend through so much pain?

After changing into their nightclothes, they crept under the covers and finally got the lie down and relax, though still being ravaged by their thoughts. Yuuri turned his head to watch his fiancé blinking his eyes sleepily, as though trying not to give in to sleep too soon. The King chuckled softly to himself. Even small, mundane things like this could make the blond turn it into some sort of self-competition.

It didn't take long for Wolfram to fall asleep. It had been a long day, and a tiring journey. Yuuri watched in amusement at the blond's somewhat defeat to the power of sleep and fatigue. His eyes travelled down to his companion's form. Slim, strong, fragile. Lately, he had been feeling like all he wanted to do was protect Wolfram to the very end. Whenever the end decided to show up. All sorts of feelings began to surface everytime he just looked at Wolfram. Perhaps he was coming close to a decision on what he should really do.

Onyx eyes travelled back up to the blond's neck. Something reflected the moonlight just above the collar of Wolfram's thin, silky nightgown. A necklace? When did he start wearing a necklace? Curious tanned fingers carefully reached out to the shimmery chain and brought it as close as he could to himself to examine the pendant.

What is this...? A curve? A hook? A closer look revealed some Shin Makoku language characters intricately engraved into the silver pendant. I can't read any of these... well, if it's a name, it's definitely not mine. Or Wolfram's for that matter. I wonder if I should even ask him about this tomorrow.

The blond stirred gently in his sleep. Yuuri's fingers released the pendant almost immediately. It would be an odd position to be caught in. In any case, it wasn't going to be long before Wolfram would start punching and kicking anything on the bed. He might as well get whatever sleep he can now.

And I'll find out more about that pendant tomorrow. I still have the feeling that something big is going on and no one's telling me about it. Well, we'll see how it goes. Yuuri stifled a yawn as his eyelids grew heavier. "Goodnight, Wolfram..." he whispered. The blond gave a grunt in response.

Tomorrow's another day, and one he won't waste.

To Be Continued…

I'm stopping this here. I'm sorry for the ending and such, but as I mentioned before, I'm writing this the way I want to. I just hope you'll like it. Squall Leonhart will be properly mentioned in the next chapter (probably). Please review! Thank you!