It was already dark outside. Caesar, sitting near the gates of Chisha village, sighed as he looked up to the sky, staring at the stars high above him. The night was warm, but he felt a little chilly anyway, not knowing why.

Or maybe he did know. A major war was about to break out in full force. The battles so far had been small compared to what was to come in the future. Sooner or later these Grasslanders would have to stop fighting each other and unite to fight against the Harmonians. And once they did that they would need a strategist, and there weren't that many available... Besides, he needed to do this. Albert was on the Harmonian side, and he would do anything to stop his brother.

There was a celebration going on in the village, but Caesar didn't care for that. He had been forced to take a couple of drinks and such, but he had escaped the minute he got a chance. There were more complicated matters to think about than celebrating, but this was obviously the Grassland way of doing things, and he wasn't about to start arguing about that.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at the direction of the village. Lights were lit in all the buildings of the village; he could also hear the sounds of the party, even though most of the people were inside. Only a couple of them were out, probably to cool off for a moment before going back in to enjoy themselves. He shook his head, thinking that Grasslanders were so weird sometimes. Of course, Apple would disagree and explain something about the local cultures, but he sure wasn't up to hearing one of his tutor's lectures right now.

He shrugged. Apple... she was probably making random notes for her research. If not that, then she was reading somewhere. It wasn't that late yet, so she probably wasn't in bed... Not that he had any desire to go find her. He would rather sit here alone and try to analyze the situation as well as he could. He didn't feel tired, which almost surprised him considering his usual laziness.

Well, that's rare... Ha ha. Hmmm. But I can't just sit around and do nothing right now, when I have Albert to take care of...

He stared darkly at the fence across the road, not wanting to look in front of him... because that was the place where his brother had been standing not many days ago, and even the thought angered him.

His musings were interrupted by footsteps coming from the direction of the village. He turned to look and saw that someone was coming up the road, obviously deep in thought.

Which means I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good place to be alone...

He smiled a little and waited until the other passed him then voiced what he had just thought about a moment before. "Hmm. So I'm not the only one who thinks this place might actually give you some rest from the celebration... Am I right?"

The other person turned, and in the faint moonlight Caesar could see it was the son of the Karaya Clan Chief. "Eh... yeah." Hugo smiled back, studying the redhead for a moment. "So... is that why you're here?"

Caesar leaned his back on the fence and nodded, motioning for the other boy to sit down. "What else? These Grassland customs are beyond me... And I just needed to think for a moment." He looked down a little, his expression turning serious. "After all that happened today..."

Hugo sat down next to the strategist, glancing at him. "I think I know what you mean... Uh, I understand the local customs, but that's not what I meant... you know. I finally managed to escape from the Sergeant after having hung around with him for several hours. I wanted to just sit down for a while and think, but you can't do that anywhere down there."

Caesar just nodded, staring at the hills beyond the village border. They weren't exactly alone here either, but there was no one close to them. There were guards at the outskirts of the village, keeping an eye on possible attackers. Caesar doubted the Harmonians were coming back this instant, but they would be back eventually... and then there would be a real war.

"Hmm." The young Karayan studied his companion for a moment. "You know, Caesar... you look far more serious than usual. Something on your mind?"

The strategist looked at him then shrugged, smiling and shaking his head. "Probably nothing you haven't thought about several times this evening. Harmonians, The Flame Champion, war... stuff like that. Would be better to stop thinking about it, but I just can't. How about you?"

Hugo looked up, thoughtful. "War... it's not a nice thought, but... I don't think we can avoid it. There are so many things that can go wrong. I can't stop thinking about what happened today... my duel with that mage. Harmonians are tough, and they will cause us many problems if there's going to be an all-out attack..."

He closed his eyes, shaking his head a little. Then he smiled, looking at Caesar. "But, there's something else. I guess you've heard that I'm leaving tomorrow... to meet someone, someone who should be able to help us with this. So, I'm trying to be optimistic. Maybe I can learn to be strong enough to protect Grasslands. Maybe."

"Heh." Caesar grinned slightly. "That's the kind of talk I would like to hear from more people here. You have the warrior spirit in you, the one that is required to fight this war. I'm not as optimistic as you are, but I wish I could be. But there is always a chance... even a small one..."

Hugo nodded, still smiling. If the strategist said there was a chance then there was one. He hadn't known Caesar that long but knew him well enough to trust him completely. And after first meeting him in Lake Castle and then here... he had kind of become friends with the redhead. There was something about Caesar he couldn't understand, but he ignored the thought, happy about the moment of relief and the hope he had been given. And tomorrow...

Caesar mumbled something about Harmonia to himself, but Hugo couldn't make sense of it. He looked up, trying to clear his mind from any unpleasant thoughts. There was a festival tonight and he would only ruin everyone's moods if he kept thinking about the war. Instead, he concentrated on what he had been thinking about a minute ago - the redheaded strategist.

He had never met a person like Caesar before, and was quite happy to be his friend. Yes, there was going to be war... but from what he understood, the same war would give him time to get to know some people better. He was going to meet a very important person in a few days... and then there was Caesar, whom he truly liked. Liked almost in the sense of...

Eh. I don't know... that's just too strange. Hugo smiled to himself, a little embarrassed. Once again, there was that feeling that he couldn't understand. Maybe he would figure out what it was one of these days.

Caesar glanced in the direction of the village again then turned his head and studied the younger boy, wondering what he was thinking about. Hugo was leaning on the fence, his hands behind his head. Was he admiring the stars, perhaps? But why that kind of smile then? Caesar shook his head slightly, keeping his eyes on the other boy. He patted Hugo's shoulder lightly, changing his position and turning to look at the sky too.

"You know, you look cute when you smile like that..." He said quietly, not meaning to voice the comment but accidentally doing so.

Hugo turned to look at him, blinking. "E...Excuse me?"

"Er... Never mind." Caesar tried to look innocent, quickly trying to think of something that would explain what he had just said. Unfortunately, he couldn't come up with anything. "I was just saying... that... uh..."

"Cute? What... do you mean, cute?" Hugo insisted, praying that the darkness hid the fact that he was blushing. Caesar's sudden comment had interrupted his train of thought and now he was stuck trying to figure out what on earth the other boy was talking about.

Gee, didn't you get yourself in trouble now. Nice work, Caesar, The strategist scolded himself, still trying to think of an explanation. It was quite dark out here, but he did notice that Hugo was flushed all over. He raised an eyebrow, a little puzzled. Why? Unless...

His green eyes scanned the young Karayan for a moment as he wondered what Hugo thought of him. Well, they were friends, but maybe there was something else... There sure was for him.

Well, there's one good way to find out.

Since Hugo still wasn't doing anything else other than looking at him, he moved in a little, leaned close to the Karayan, and kissed him on the lips. The kiss itself was nothing special, just a light one, but there was a deep meaning behind it.

When their lips parted, Caesar moved back, took a deep breath and waited. There was a good chance the other would strangle him now... or slap at least. But Hugo just stared at him, looking like he didn't understand what had just happened.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have..."

Hugo swallowed slowly, trying to clear his head. He ended up blinking a couple of times, keeping his eyes fixed on the redhead. What had Caesar just done? He had... kissed him. Yes, they had kissed. Caesar had just kissed him.

"You... you..." He blurted out, trying to say something but unable to find the right words. He kept staring at the other boy while his mind was stuck asking too many questions at once. Just when he finally got his thoughts together, they were interrupted.

"Ah, there you are! I've been looking all over for you, Hugo!" Sergeant Joe's voice called from the road. He walked up to the gate and looked at the two. "Why are you wasting your time here looking like that? We're celebrating, not sulking!"

Caesar grinned at the duck. "Oh, we were just... looking at the stars. Eh, Hugo?"

"Yeah..." Hugo mumbled, getting up slowly. "Just thought... I'd get some... fresh air."

The sergeant nodded. "Well then, had enough of it yet? Back to the party, both of you!"

The strategist got up as well but stayed where he was. "I think I'll stay a little longer. I'll be there soon, though... just go on ahead."

Joe laughed a little, turning around. "Well, your loss, isn't it! Come on Hugo, we need to celebrate some more!"

"Yes, yes..." Hugo muttered. He took a step closer to Caesar and grabbed him by the neck, drawing him close. "And since I would very much like an explanation of what you did, I'm expecting to see you later tonight. When and where?"

"...Come to my room later," Caesar whispered, trying hard not to grin. "I'll... explain."

"Deal." Hugo let go of the redhead but stared him for a moment before hurrying off after the Duck Clan member. Caesar's room later tonight it was then. He wanted an explanation. He wanted to know why the strategist had done something like that, had kissed him all of a sudden...

And why he hadn't done anything to stop him.

Author's notes:

The pairing and setting were given to me by Anastasia Demi and I actually wrote the fic on AIM while having a conversation with her. It's quite interesting to write a fic that way, if you ask me.

- Elmina (April, 2004)