He sat on the floor and rested his head on the window frame. The sun hadn't completely risen yet, and the horizon was lightly coloured in rose, violet, and orange, the colours pastel-like imitations of tree blossoms in the spring time. The sun had just started to bring sun into the garden, illuminating the crevices of rocks and sand, the ripples of water.

There was absolute peace in that moment and a smile pulled at his dark mouth. It was perfect. He rose lightly, six feet of taut and powerful muscle hidden by a kimono of white with golden dragons upon it. A powerful body covered by symbols of that power. He thought and absentmindedly pinched his nose as he did so.

When he had been a teenager, he had never thought about ever returning home. He smiled again, rather more bitterly, and dragged a toe across the gleaming floorboards. He had never even thought about returning to the country of his birth. It was odd. A mixed feeling somewhere between familiarity and strangeness. He trembled a bit in the still-chilly morning air. It was a bit like dressing yourself in clothes you knew you'd wear as an adult while you were still a child.

"Idiot. Now is not the time to be whining to the wind. Ju's going to come by, without making a sound, and before you know it he'll have told half the world all about how you're still a child who never thinks of anything but himself." He shook his head lightly and his hair flew everywhere at once, except for one strand that tugged slightly and seemed firmly affixed near the floor. He gave it a gentle tug, just to make sure, and craned his head over his shoulder.

A pair of wide, deep blue eyes glistened up at him, shining with love beneath a mop of auburn hair.

His heart melted and he turned around, carefully detaching a small hand from a strand of long hair. He crouched down and softly rumpled the auburn hair that was in easy reach, green eyes gentle. "Well now, Chi, aren't you up early . . ."

The little head bobbed up and down solemnly.

"Got a reason to be prowling around at this time of the morning, my Chi?" He smiled softly, wondering if a certain harlequin's early morning prowling and quest for this specific book had inadvertently woken the toddler up.

"Kitty woke me up. Was hungry."

"And so why didn't you go back to bed, like a good Chi?"

"Wanted to see Papa." The child's face broke into a hopelessly endearing smile as he hugged his father's waist, dropping the well-worn terry-cloth rabbit that had been held in his vicelike grip until that moment.

His heart melted under an assault more deadly than any an army or a gang could muster and he gathered his son into his arms, kissing the downy hair gently. This little warrior, armed only with a toy rabbit, dealt a more devastating blow to a man's image than he could have ever imagined. Somehow, though, he couldn't make himself care. He couldn't harden his heart against this attack. No emotional barriers were strong enough protection. Not when blue eyes were staring at him, shining with quiet, unquestioning, unwavering adoration and tiny arms were wrapped around his neck in a loving hug.

It was hopelessly strange. Almost surreal, how different and wrong it was from everything he'd experienced since his teens. But it was still perfect, everything about it warmed whatever bits of his soul hadn't been reached since he and Uula had become lovers. After years in hell, and a brief return to a surprisingly pleasant earth, he'd somehow ended up in a personal heaven.

It was bizarre. It was unimaginable. But it was right and he smiled as he sat back down in front of the window, sliding it open to dangle his feet out with his son nestled protectively in his lap.