Thoroughly upset by the Council's ‘suggestion,’ Boa sat on the edge of their shared bed with her arms folded across her chest, refusing to look at Yunho.  Her thoughts were tumultuous but aside from the displeased frown on her face, her emotions did not show.  But she was outraged.  She was furious.  She was frustrated that everything she had worked for might be crumbling around her and she could do nothing to stop it from here.

                “Love,” Yunho murmured, finally moving to kneel in front of her when she continued to decline to acknowledge him.

                Boa glanced across the room, taking note of their four bodyguards hovering at the door, and her personal maidservant perched demurely in the corner.  And she saw the top of Yunho’s head, at which point she had to quell the immediate desire to smooth the ersely crooked strands of hair down, but still she did not look at him.

                “Surely you must have suspected something like this would happen,” he sighed, resting his hand on her knee.

                “Not to me,” the Empress sniffed proudly, her jaw tense and her face turned away, stiffness present in every part of her body.

                The Emperor sighed softly and shook his head.  “We are none of us above reproach,” he gently reminded her, reaching with infinite care to touch her cheek with his fingertips.

                Finally, Boa glanced at him, drawn from her statuesque performance to react to the softness of his touch.  “I was doing it for him,” she finally muttered uncharitably under her breath, her body at last starting to loosen just a bit.

                Yunho’s laugh was bittersweet, like the smile that pulled at his lips.  “You did it for yourself,” he chided with a furrowed brow.  She frowned at him for his accusation, and met his dark brown eyes when he continued.  “So that you wouldn’t lose him.”

                Tension returned and she brushed his hand away before placing her fingers over , the hated prickling sensation burning in the backs of her eyes.  “He never should have left.  He is my son!” she bit out, the words bitter and betrayed.

                “Our son,” Yunho reminded her with sad patience.

                “Our only son!” she hissed at him, her face becoming pained as she pointed an accusatory finger at him.  “And all because you had to be so… damn strong,” she cried softly, her bottom jaw trembling.

                “You know where I stand on that, love,” the Emperor reminded her with a long suffering sigh.  His shoulders seemed to bow under the weight of that decision and he pressed his forehead to her knees.

                Boa looked down at his bowed head, seriously debating whether she wanted to hit him or not.  Even without the guards looking at her in unobtrusive curiosity, she would have paused.  At last, she simply placed a hand on the back of his shoulder, under his wing, and gripped his shirt.  “Then why didn’t you try harder to help me find him?”

                “For one, you know that if I had stepped in to actively search for our son, every demon in the universe would know he had run away and not just gone on an "extended training mission."  And we both know the Nonaggression Treaty would not have guaranteed his safety.”  She watched his hand come up to lightly capture her’s before he lifted his head to look up at her.  “But also because I knew you would.”  His smile was genuine and the truth of his words easy to see in his eyes.  “With few exceptions, you have always been good at getting what you want,” he reminded her, bringing her hand to his lips so he could kiss it.

                Reactively, she tried to jerk it away but he held on, the grip gentle but firm.  Boa scoffed and looked away, beginning to realize she had been at least somewhat outplayed by him.  “Looks like you were right.”

                Yunho’s sigh made her pause though.  “Aye.  But even I don’t know what the cost will be.”

                “We will have our son back,” she told him primly, her dark eyes taking on a hooded look.

                “Yes, but who did you want back more?” he asked openly, the next words biting in their intent.  “Our son or the Heir?”  The Empress looked away, unable to meet his eyes even as she was unable to fully answer the question herself.  “Without his wings, you know he cannot inherit the title,” the Emperor reminded her.

                “Then we at least have our son back,” she stated, the words a defense of sorts.

                “And she won’t, right?” Yunho nudged, smiling slightly when his wife glared at him.

                “But what if he got his wings back?” Boa asked, her expression impassive.

                The Emperor’s hesitant response was hardly encouraging.  “Did you think I wouldn’t know about Changmin?” he whispered, dropping his head to gather his thoughts while she turned an accusing glare at the other angels in the room.  “If by some cosmic miracle he actually succeeds, the end result may be worse than you ever considered.”

                Of course she’d never really considered that her carefully orchestrated plans would be discovered and upset so… frustratingly.  As such, she’d never even thought of the consequences, should the Council find out about her involvement in the affair.  That was not to say she had been implicated just yet, but she knew as well as any that it was a serious crime to regain one’s wings after having lost them, due in no small part because of what the cure was.  “Yes well, since you already seemed to predict something might happen…” she trailed off, leaving him room to explain himself in personally sending Insoo and Seyong to Earth several days ago.

                “I was merely sending a complimentary guard to help retrieve our son,” he smiled, finally letting her hand go.  “As the Heir, and our son, he is befitting of that much at least.”

                “You could have told me,” she huffed, tossing her hair over one shoulder so it trickled down her wing and slid back into place anyway.

                “I’m telling you now,” he assured her, taking a moment to stand up so he could lean forward and kiss her on the forehead.  “Besides, isn’t it better that Insoo is not here at the moment?” he queried with a gentle, knowing smile.

                Boa was not exactly happy with the answer, but he did at least have a point.  Yunho moved to step away but Boa caught his hand before he got very far.  She carefully looked up his arm until she met his eyes and then asked, “What happens now?”

                Yunho smiled at her, clasping her hand in both of his.  “Now we continue to act like the Emperor and Empress of the Angel Empire.  For however long that is given to us.”

                “And when Gunwoo returns?” she added, her fingers tightening in his.

                There was no hesitation or uncertainty in Yunho’s answer.  “We treat him as our son.”  Once more, he raised Boa’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of it tenderly.  “Just wait patiently for a bit longer now,” he urged, stepping back and slipping away as he headed for the door.

                “Where are you going?” she pouted, put off at having been essentially assigned to her quarters for the time being.

                “To the bridge,” he responded, waving at his guards.  “Yongguk.  Byunghyun.”

                “Highness!” they saluted, stepping away from Jongin and Haruma to fall into place at the Emperor’s sides.

                “I wish to see if we have heard any response from Victoria,” he explained with a slight edge to his voice.

                He wasn’t saying it, but Boa knew the Emperor was worried as he stepped out of the room, leaving her with her guards and handmaiden.  In turn, that made her worried.  Why would there be no response from the retrieval team?  She knew Gunwoo would not endeavor to harm them, but… their being incapacitated was the only reason she could imagine them being unable to respond.  And that did not bode well for any of them.

                 General achiness and the sounds of people talking softly nearby were what finally pulled Gunwoo from his unconsciousness.  His eyes felt glued together when he tried to open them, but he froze entirely as he felt his wings move against the ground.  His wings.  He had wings again.  A short, shuddering gasp shook his frame and he reached a still unseeing hand back to grab the edge of a very solid feathered appendage.

                “It was real,” he whispered, finally prying open his eyes to stare in front of him, not sure what he’d see.  His last memories included demons trying to kill him, his wings growing back, and Changmin kissing him to make him drink the unicorn’s blood…  But only the ground greeted him, normal and bare and cold.  Not to mention hard.  Then he heard a sound nearby and Gunwoo jumped as someone else moved into view.  “Kibum!” he blurted in surprise, awkwardly pushing himself into a sitting position to get a better look.

                The lighting was dim but it was still more than enough to see that his best friend was here, along with a sleeping Changmin, his currently sleeping piloting instructor Victoria, and… Taekwoon and Wonshik.  He also noticed the ship was sitting at the entrance of what looked to be a cave, and it was daylight that allowed him to see everything else.  He rubbed at both eyes to be sure he wasn’t still dreaming before he focused on Kibum, only to realize the other man had been speaking to him.  The furrowed brow on his face explained that he was worried or concerned, but also a bit annoyed that Gunwoo was apparently ignoring him.  In truth, he just hadn’t realized Kibum was talking to him in the first place.

                “I’m sorry,” he began to say before he watched a look of utter confusion cross his friend’s face.  And when Kibum started to talk back, his lips moving to confirm he was speaking, Gunwoo shared his expression.  He couldn’t understand him.  Not one word.  In growing horror, he clapped his hand over his mouth and reached behind his ear to touch the microunitranscoordinator.  No response at all.  It must have died when he was in the container thing.  He remembered it had been hard to understand what they were saying at the time, which would explain why they couldn’t hear him either.

                He was jerked back to the moment at hand when Kibum grabbed his hand and tugged, clearly worried by this.  In frantic gestures, he managed to confirm that he couldn’t understand Gunwoo either, by pointing to his ears and shaking his head.  The reciprocal ‘You?’ was asked by pointing at Gunwoo with a shrug of his shoulders.  Gunwoo shook his head in response, glad they could at least communicate a little bit, but crushed at the loss of language between them.  He hadn’t thought he’d ever see him again, to be honest, and now he couldn’t even talk to him.  It made him want to cry at the unfairness of it.

                He did start sniffling when Kibum promptly pulled him into a hug anyway, holding him tight around the neck.  It was obvious by the tone of his voice he was probably scolding Gunwoo, but it was equally clear the human was glad to see him.  He’d be lying if he wasn’t glad to see him too, but now he had even more questions that the other simply wouldn’t be able to answer.

                When Kibum pulled away, he was slightly confused, but that turned to nervousness as his friend crawled over to wake Changmin up, shaking firmly on his shoulder.  Before Gunwoo could call a warning, the sleeping angel sprang into a sitting position, knocking Kibum back as he reached for a sword that wasn’t there.  The human gave a startled cry and the angel blinked bleary eyes to try and figure out what was going on.  Then they started speaking to each other and it was incredibly disconcerting for Gunwoo not being able to understand what they were saying.

                Dawning comprehension appeared on Changmin’s face and he looked at Gunwoo with a pained expression.  “I guess your MUTC broke.”

                “I think so,” Gunwoo confirmed, relieved to at least recognize the language of the angels.  “But I’m so confused, Min,” he shook his head, looking around with a wide-eyed expression.  He gestured to Kibum and the rest of the situation at hand and just shrugged.

                “Yeah.  Uh… a lot has happened since you went unconscious,” Changmin agreed hesitantly, apparently unsure about how close he should be or even if he should be talking to the Heir, if his constant glances to Victoria were any indication.

                Eventually, he settled himself in front of Gunwoo and simply decided to fill him in as best he could, while translating back and forth for Kibum as well.  It was a lot to take in.  Gunwoo never imagined that Kibum would have actively been in that much danger because of him, and he was admittedly grateful to Victoria for saving him, if annoyed she’d continued to cart him around.  He was glad to hear that she’d been in the area though, and able to rescue them since he doubted they would have made it far on their own either.  Likewise, the same went for Wonshik and Taekwoon, both of whom Kibum seemed to enjoy eyeing in their sleep.  The smirk on his lips almost guaranteed he was thinking dirty thoughts or how annoyed Junhong would be that he wasn’t here too.

                Gunwoo finally had to take a deep breath as he rubbed his temples with his fingertips and tried to organize everything so far.  He glanced at Changmin for a long moment, certain he wanted to speak to the other angel at least somewhat privately, but he figured Victoria would be easier to talk to first  He wasn't even sure where to begin with Changmin and there was still too much left unsaid between them..  “Is she okay?” he finally asked with a nod towards the sleeper.

                Changmin agreed quietly as he followed the Heir’s gaze, being careful to maintain a certain amount of distance between them.  “You know Royals sleep longer after they’ve used their powers so much.  Cosmos know she had to use them quite a bit to get us this far,” he added in a soft voice, conflicted by her presence for some reason.

                “I understand,” Gunwoo murmured, placing a hand on Changmin’s shoulder to bridge the gap between them.  He didn’t like this awkward spacing, though he suspected he knew what was going on; now that they'd been found, Changmin was just a Forsaken angel once again.  One that had no business dealing with the Heir, regardless of what Gunwoo might have thought about the matter.  “Let Kibum know I’m glad he’s okay and that’s it good to see him.  I’m going to talk to Victoria,” he swallowed, smiling encouragingly at his friend before he met his former guard’s shuttered eyes.

                “I will,” the other angel promised, brushing his fingertips against Gunwoo’s arm.  It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing, and even the slight contact helped to give him a touch more courage to face the Royal angel he knew had been officially sent to bring him back.

                Victoria was relatively easy to wake from her side sleeping position, like most angels; few slept on their stomachs and even fewer could sleep on their wings.  While she was glad to see the Heir was alright, she was not entirely surprised he wanted to speak to her.  Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and stretching on the ground, she slowly stood up and gestured for him to follow so they could walk and talk in relative peace.

                They stepped outside and when Victoria became invisible, Gunwoo jumped in surprise.  It only made sense, he knew, but he’d forgotten he could too, now that he had his wings back.  And it was a little tricky but not unlike, as the humans would say, riding a bike.  Remembering how to maintain it wasn’t so bad, and it meant they would be left undisturbed for the time being.  By anything and everything really.

                Gunwoo knew where the other angel was; he could feel her presence like a vague force at his side, but he didn’t even begin to know where to start with her either.  “Victoria…” he began to say, trailing off as he searched for words.

                “Highness,” she stopped him with a single word, pausing in their walk.  He stopped to listen and she continued, “Allow me to speak first and then you can tell me what else you feel might be necessary.”

                “Okay,” Gunwoo murmured when he realized she couldn’t see him nodding in answer.

                “Changmin has filled me in on most of what has happened, though the less I know of why he is here, the better.  I have my own suspicions, but for the moment, let me simply say that I was sent by the order of the Galactic Council with Kim Jaeseop and Kim Jongdae in order to retrieve you from this planet.  As you well know, your cousin Kang Insoo returned with information of your whereabouts and, since you are the Heir to the Angel Empire, immediate action was taken.  However, soon after our arrival, it became clear that the demons had learned of your presence as well.  In my efforts to locate you, one of them followed me to Kibum’s home, necessitating my absconding with him in order to prevent the demon from attempting to procure your location from him.  However, it was not until I realized that it was your ship that had been shot down that I was able to confirm your location on this planet myself.

                Furthermore, I was also not able to make a move to retrieve you until after Changmin set off the null stasis field, which prompted the actions of the two demons trailing you for the purposes of your demise.  During combat, my ship was damaged, though I did manage to take one of the demons down, after which point I had to withdraw in order to bide my time so I would still be able to assist you.  After your fight with the demons, Changmin tried to flee with you and something destroyed the research center you were being held captive in just as I was able to pick you both up from the air.  Shortly after, we moved to rescue the angel and demon who had also managed to escape the destruction of the center.

                In that maneuver, I discovered that there were three additional demons on this planet.  For whatever reason that they did not care to divulge, they were apparently not here for you, Highness.  And so they let us go, allowing us to find refuge here.  I’m not sure where the humans would call this place, but it is another island somewhere in this expanse of water.  Any questions so far?” she asked, giving him an opening to speak since it was impossible to read her expressions or body language.

                “That… explains quite a bit,” Gunwoo murmured with a nod.  He shrugged his shoulders, still adjusting to the weight of his returned wings, and took a breath.  “What happened to the other angels?”  Since she had not mentioned them, he thought he might already know but would rather confirm.

                He could veritably feel Victoria’s displeasure even before she spoke.  “Per Changmin, I can only believe that they were indeed killed and their ship sent into the sun.”

                “Oh…”  He’d expected it but that was still unfortunate.  More so because he actually knew them.  Jongdae had been his caretaker before his guards; he had naught but fond memories of the smiling angel who usually had some sort of treat for him.  And Jaeseop had been a classmate of his, even though he was a standard angel.  “So, it seems as if most of our ships have been destroyed,” he pointed out, feeling very uncomfortable with how things stood.

                “Correct.  I was able to send off a message before I was forced to hide here, though I do not know how long it will take the Council to respond appropriately.  Regardless, you would also be aware that standard protocol mandates that a personal messenger go to check on the status of the missing patrol or messenger, especially in cases dealing with individuals of high importance.  It will not be long before someone comes to find us here.  All we need to is wait and make sure the demons, and the humans, do not notice our presence.”

                Victoria sounded so sure of herself.  It was almost irritating.  “What if I don’t want to go back?” he had to ask, shifting in place nervously.  Her attention shifted to him so completely there was no denying she could move to apprehend him at a moment’s notice. In their current conditions, he had little doubt she'd be able to overpower him fairly easily...

                “It does not matter, Highness.  The Council has commanded your return,” she explained in a steady but semi-regretful tone.  “If you do not wish to come willingly, then I will be forced to bring you back by whatever means necessary.”

                “I know,” he sighed, wings bowing where he stood.  He really did.  He just had to ask.  “What about Taekwoon and Wonshik?”  When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he realized she wasn’t entirely familiar with their names yet.  “The new angel and demon.”

                “Ah,” she murmured, confirming his suspicion.  “I am unsure.  But seeing that they have started to manifest the powers of true angels and demons, I additionally suspect that any new messages or contact we have with the Council will likely include them, so, until further notice, we will be keeping an eye on them as well.”  He felt her shift uncomfortably, the sound of her feet moving obvious to his ears.  “I don’t suppose I need to tell you that Kibum will have to be returned.”

                “No,” Gunwoo sighed again, feeling the weight on his shoulders grow heavier and heavier by the second.  “I am aware.  It’s not like I can talk to him right now anyway,” he muttered dejectedly.

                It did not take Victoria long to realize what he was referring to.  “Your MUTC has become non-functional, hasn’t it?”  He grunted in confirmation and she sighed.  “Unlike your clothes, that is something we cannot fix on such short notice.”

                With an immediate flush, Gunwoo glanced down reactively, only realizing after the fact that someone had dressed him in a spare set of universal clothing, the gray color boring but familiar.  “Right,” he agreed quickly, hoping she wouldn’t notice his discomfit.  If she did, she didn’t say anything, though he certainly had to wonder just who had changed him…

                The space between them fell silent and it was apparent that neither really knew what to say.  It was equally obvious they both wanted to say something by the weight of the air around them.  “Highness…” Victoria finally spoke first, her voice trailing off while her invisible fingers carefully brushed against his arm, gently questing. 

                “Yes?” he responded, somewhat relieved but nervous she’d managed to speak first.

                “It’s not my place, I know.  But Changmin,” she stated, more than likely chewing her lip with a furrowed brow, if he recalled what she used to do correctly.  “I don’t… know why he's here or how things are between you.  Again, I can only guess.  But I know how close you used to be and… it feels like.  I don’t know,” she laughed, apparently flustered with herself, though Gunwoo was all manner of nervous about her choice of topic.  “I’m not saying today, because we all need the rest and time to recharge cosmic energy,” she started again, more sure of herself now.  “But I know what he used to be to you and it just feels like you two haven’t had a chance to sort it out yet after you... left,” she admitted with as obvious a shrug as she could have while invisible.

                “It has been a little crazy lately,” he agreed in a slightly higher than normal voice.

                “He can’t become invisible and walking around at night is most certainly not advised, but I will be taking Kibum back soon.  Maybe,” she hummed, clearly trying to find the right balance of how to say what she wanted.  “I don’t know about the other two, but I just thought you might be able to talk more freely if I wasn’t here,” she laughed uncertainly.  “Highness,” she added at the end, as if to let him know she at least somewhat understood what he would be facing when all of this was said and done.

                Gunwoo didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh at the completely unexpected gesture or cry from the offer.  After this, he knew his privacy would be nonexistent.  Having fled once, they wouldn’t dare let him out of their sight, and given what Changmin had already done in coming this far, he might not actually ever see the angel again after this.  It was not an idea that sat well with him for many reasons.  “Thank you, Victoria,” he sniffed, unable to hold back his emotions at her gesture.

                “You’re welcome,” she whispered, trailing her fingers down to grab his hand lightly, giving it a gentle, comforting squeeze.  “Come on then.  We should get back inside before anyone starts to worry about us,” she forced a laugh, trying to keep the mood light, even if it was useless.

                “Yeah,” Gunwoo tried to play along, squeezing her hand in return.  “Kibum has always been quick to worry about me.  He’s like my-”  He stopped short before he could say it.  Mother.  Kibum was nothing like his actual mother and both he and Victoria knew it.

                “He sounds like he’s been a good friend,” she helped rescue him from himself.  “If nothing else, I’m glad you were able to find one.  Even out here,” Victoria smiled.

                And though he knew she didn’t think it was ever his place to live with such a creature as a human, he also knew she was genuinely happy for him in that regard.  “Me too,” he whispered, not sure how he would be able to say goodbye to the other man in person this time.  Walking out when he’d been asleep had been bad enough.