Revelations in the Rain

When the rain threatens to overpower you and you becomelost in your past will there be anyone left to save you? Four individuals find the strength in one another to face the pain and loses of the past; together. Doma-centric angst with eventual friendship fluff and WAFF.

Part Three of the ‘In The Rain’ Trilogy. The Sequel to ‘Reflections in the Rain’ and ‘Resignations in the Rain.’

I wish I could think of more to say, but I can’t except that although it looks long, a lot of it is purely dialogue, so it’s shorter than you’d think. I’d also like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed the other fics in this series and say to anyone that hasn’t that this story can be read as a stand alone one-shot but makes much more sense when read as the concluding piece of the series.

So here it is at last; the final instalment. Enjoy!

---

Dartz felt his mind twist around itself as all his thoughts became a blur of fire, of blood and of tears. At that one moment he felt so much – more than he had ever felt before in all his years – and yet he also felt completely empty. It was as though all the feelings were numbing him from the inside out.

The Oricalchos pendant that hung around his neck flared again, filling the sparse room with an acidic light that bleached the white walls green.

The rain diffused the sharp rays of green, casting luminous rainbows over the stone of his room making it look as though the storm was occurring within the chamber, rather than out of it.

Dartz took a shaky breath, trying to steady his racing heart and trembling body.

Something was wrong – terribly, terribly wrong.

He closed his eyes and images of his warriors flashed through his mind.

“I have to save them – have to save…” he began before his limbs could no longer support him and he collapsed.

Dartz couldn’t believe how weak he had become – how weak he felt. It was the lowest he had ever been in over ten millennia.

He slammed a fist onto the cold stone tiles, and the resounding ‘thud’ echoed through the building.

He was the Emperor of Atlantis! This was no way for him to act and Dartz was determined that he wouldn’t fail or fall.

The stone around his neck grew hotter and brighter until the hum of power resonated through his very body. The symbol of the mighty Oricalchos appeared on his forehead as Dartz stood defiantly, daring his emotions to overcome him again.

Slowly, Dartz opened his eyes to reveal two orbs, one green and one gold.

“With the power of the Oricalchos I swear that I will save my Chosen Warriors!” he vowed.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed and gold turned to green as the Oricalchos shone through his eyes. Compared to the intensity burning through his newly emerald orbs, his skin took on an almost translucent hue. The milky whiteness of his flesh was so pale that you could actually see the electric green of the Oricalchos coursing through his veins.

“I will save the world,” Dartz whispered, his voice quiet, but firm.

But first, my family.

At that moment, Dartz was stronger than he had ever been before and anyone would have been a fool to doubt him. At that moment, Dartz could have taken on the Pharaoh and been victorious.

At that moment, Dartz had been reborn.

---

Amelda hadn’t even realised he had been sleeping – his memories had been so sharp, and so clear that he had almost been certain he’d been returned into his own past.

But no such luck.

He was still where he had left himself, curled over himself in a ball, the fragile figurine still clenched so tightly in his fi –

Wait – where was Dino Dude?

Frantic panic consumed Amelda as he jerked himself upright and begin his furious assault on his room to find the precious item.

You’re all I have left of him…

“Dammit! Where are you?” he cried in frustration. He knew it had been in his hand, so where could it have gone?

“Amelda…” a voice at the door called out to him.

He turned sharply and in his shock fell back onto the bed with a cry that mixed what sounded like bitter relief and horror.

“D-Dino Dude?”

---

It was the most amazing feeling.

As he stood surrounded by the beautiful glow of green Dartz had never felt so contented in all his life. It was as though someone had finally lit a candle that hadn’t been snuffed out by the rain and the light had spread throughout his being.

For Dartz, it was a moment of complete clarity. He could see every second of every day for all of his ten thousand and twenty one years of his life. He could see every little insignificant moment building to this; his greatest hour.

Dartz felt wholly in control of all the emotions that had only minutes ago raged through him in a way that threatened to tear him apart. Even in his mind, Dartz seemed entirely at rest with himself. He could finally separate the separate strands of his Warriors thoughts and feelings – he could see how they had started so far apart, but their lives had gradually run parallel before finally intertwining.

The Atlantian Lord inhaled, feeling the energy well inside and then released, channelling the last thoughts of his Warriors.

Amelda’s troubled slumber grazed his mind, as did Varon’s conflicting emotions towards himself, but neither of those was quite so urgent as the situation with Raphael.

“Raphael…” Dartz spoke aloud, the name a rumble.

Most people considered Raphael to be the most emotionally strong out of all the Doma Warriors, but Dartz knew this to be untrue. Raphael did not openly show his emotions because he had no idea how to handle them, so he locked them away within himself.

After spending so many years alone he had forgotten how to deal with his own emotions, but Dartz had forced him to be strong. Instead of asking for help and showing his weakness he hid everything from the world. But perhaps it was this reclusive quality that made him so vulnerable. Raphael’s emotions were so fragile that if he ever revealed his true feelings they would shatter and break.

But as his motorcycle careered towards the oncoming lorry, Raphael felt true fear. It was the same stomach churning feeling that he had had when the storm broke during his birthday, the same pain when he realised that he was alone and his family had gone.

His heart raced in his chest and Raphael smiled. Perhaps Fate would take pity on him, and rather then letting the Great Leviathan swallow his soul, it would allow his spirit to find his family.

“What the hell?” screamed the lorry driver, frantically trying to brake and swerve to avoid Raphael at the same time. “Get outta the bloody way!”

Suddenly, a bright light flared, forming what appeared to be a barrier between the lorry and the motorcycle. The lorry halted as soon as it made contact and the shocked driver began hyperventilating.

His eyes drifted to the road and widened as they watched Raphael skid behind the invisible wall. The road ended and the motorcycle jumped as it collided with the kerb jolting Raphael’s body from the seat before it wrapped itself around a lamppost with a steaming hiss.

Raphael lay motionless on the asphalt as the rain continued to thunder down from the heavens. The hem of his heavy leather jacket had caught itself on the motorcycle and had been torn from his body. The left side of his pants were ripped from where they had rubbed against the tarmac of the road, revealing muscular flesh now embedded with tiny grain of gravel and stone.

The man in the lorry quickly began to unfasten his safety belt so that he could see to the fallen rider, but no sooner had the strap withdrawn than the sky was pierced by another blinding light. The driver covered his eyes with his hands, splitting the fingers so that he could see through them.

“Bloody hell…” he muttered in disbelief.

There, descending from the Heavens with the rain and the light was a man.

“I gotta get me some weaker stuff…” he mused before passing out.

---

Black and white blurred in Raphael’s mind as he tried to wrench open his eyes. Somewhere he could still hear the desperate cry of his stricken guardian, but try as he might he couldn’t find her.

“Airtos…” he croaked weakly.

The leather gloves on his hands had been shredded so that they barely clung onto the peeling skin, the raw flesh red and exposed. His hands twitched as he tried to lift himself from the ground, but he was struggling just to breathe and stay awake.

“Raphael,” a voice above him whispered softly.

White light pierced the night sky and slipped in through Raphael’s half open eyelids.

“Airtos?” he asked again, finding comfort in the warm light that seemed to wrap itself around his body.

“No, my child,” the voice was so rich, so familiar…

Raphael’s eyes widened as they fell on the image before him.

There, descending to Earth, surrounded by light was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen – half man and half angel.

Fully naked.

Rain ran over the defined muscles of the chest and stomach, clear and then emerald as they landed on the milky skin and took on the colour of the mighty Oricalchos that was now one with his master.

“Ma-master Dartz?” he asked in disbelief.

Dartz opened his closed eyes, revealing two shockingly acid eyes, the colours ever changing, bleeding into one another. If you looked close and long enough into them you could even see the shadows of his past – his memories.

The wonderfully sculpted body grounded itself in front of him, and Raphael found that he couldn’t look away. He felt bewitched by Dartz’s newfound power and his ethereal beauty.

The light around his body did not fade, but grew even brighter as Dartz approached Raphael’s stricken body. Slowly, Dartz knelt down on one knee and leant forward to peer at Raphael through his glowing eyes.

“What happened to you?” Raphael asked in awe as he lost himself in the jade eyes that took him through all the pain and suffering of Dartz’s life.

Dartz silently reached out a hand to Raphael’s face, tilting his chin so that he could stare into his bewildered eyes, reading the thoughts within his soul. Slowly he withdrew the hand and then with amazing speed and bone crushing strength struck Raphael across the face with the back of his hand. The attack sent Raphael hurtling across the road, landing with a painful groan on his back mere inches away from his mangled bike.

“Master Dartz…” he coughed, ready to receive the rest of his punishment from Dartz.

Instead, Dartz bent down and slipped his hands under Raphael’s knees and halfway up his back and lifted him from the ground as though he were but a child.

“Raphael, you are never to be so foolish as to attempt this again,” he stated firmly. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master Dartz,” Raphael replied quietly, knowing from the tone of voice and the eerie glow of his eyes that Dartz was perfectly serious.

Dartz began a rough appraisal of Raphael’s injuries and determined that he could easily heal the wounds by the time they returned to the palace.

“Close your eyes, Raphael,” he ordered.

The warrior complied, but as the lids shut and his mind slid into unconsciousness, a whispered phrase caught Dartz’s ears.

“Thank you…”

Dartz smiled to himself. He knew full well that if he hadn’t been able to intervene when he had Raphael would have been dead instantly. He also knew that Raphael understood why he had attacked him and forgave him for it. If it hadn’t been for Dartz, he would have died in the worst possible way – alone and meaninglessly. Dartz had given him a chance to redeem himself and in that one moment when he had glanced into Dartz’s emerald eyes he had seen what he still had to live for – Varon and Amelda, and Dartz as well…

---

All I ever wanted was for someone to show me they cared. Ever since I was a baby I had no one – my parents didn’t want me, no one wanted me. Not until her, but now that she’s dead, if I die now, will there be anyone left to care?

Varon closed his eyes to the world around him, ignoring the pain of his bleeding hands, the pulsing of his heart and the cold bullets of rain that were battering his body. In fact, as he was falling, Varon couldn’t but think how much it must have felt like flying.

He had felt like a failure his entire life, and for as long as he could remember, he had been told that he would never amount to anything worthwhile.

He didn’t want to care, but he did.

He didn’t want to be nothing; another nobody.

Then again, he didn’t want to change the world either back then, but that was what he found himself swearing to do. For a time he had actually believed in Dartz, really believed. After all, this was the man who had rescued him from that damn island where he spent all the time he wasn’t training in solitary confinement.

But now…as he contemplated whether or not this was the last cruel blow that Fate decided to deal him, he realised how much things had changed since he agreed to work for the Atlantian. Varon had always lived his life as though it was one big game; nothing really mattered. It was like Monopoly – if you lost one thing, you could always find something else, right?

But it wasn’t right. When people lost, they lost their souls and there was no replacing those. Unlike Raphael and Amelda who had real reasons to want to join forces with Dartz, he didn’t have any other than Dartz had asked and he agreed since it was better than rotting away in the middle of nowhere.

He thought about how he had gotten to where he was. He could blame Amelda for it. If he hadn’t gone off on one about that old doll then he wouldn’t have gotten angry and well…But he couldn’t actually blame him. That thing was important to him, and if Varon had only done what the red head had said then he wouldn’t be where he was.

I didn’t even tell him I was sorry…But I am. I’m so sorry Amelda.

“Varon, what are you doing here?”

He smiled at the memory.

What was he doing there?

Waiting for your forgiveness, I guess.

---

When Raphael regained consciousness, he found himself completely uninjured and in an unfamiliar, yet wondrously comfortable bed.

“I see you are awake.”

Raphael turned onto his side. “Master Dartz!” he exclaimed. He bolted upright; how was he here? How had he ended up in Dartz’s bed?

But that wasn’t the thing that worried him most.

Why in the Hell is Dartz naked?

Wait – naked Dartz, big bed – we haven’t, we couldn’t have – did we?

Dartz chuckled. “I must have hit you harder than I thought. Please tell me you don’t think I’d take advantage of you like that,” Dartz walked closer to him and placed a hand against his cheek. “Do you remember anything of tonight?”

“It’s raining,” was the only answer his mind could supply him with.

Dartz laughed again and pulled away. “Yes it is, yes it is.”

The steady hum of energy could still be heard emanating from the Atlantian royal, the power of the Oricalchos raging through his body. Raphael was transfixed by it.

“What happened to you?” he mused out loud.

“I was reborn tonight, Raphael,” Dartz answered with a secretive smile. “I was reborn.” His hands went to the pendant around his neck and as flesh connected with the jewel, he felt himself pulled towards his other warriors. “You should rest, Raphael,” he stated firmly. “I will be back shortly, after I have attended to some other matters,” he added mysteriously as he vanished in a column of green light.

Raphael watched him leave slightly awestruck. Never had he seen his master so strong, so calm and so completely in control. Whatever transformation he had undergone had been amazing.

---

Dartz knew instinctively that there was something wrong with Varon and Amelda. He also knew that if he wanted to, he could just conjure the two of them before him and if need be, erase whatever it was that had pained them so.

But he knew that this wouldn’t help them. If anything, their constant refusal to confront and accept what had happened was what led them to where they were. Dartz realised that the only way he could help them was by forcing them to face it.

He stood before his empty windows, staring out into the night.

I don’t have much time, whatever I do, I must do now.

Dartz closed his eyes and the green of the Oricalchos flooded through him, the power singing through the air. Mere seconds later, beams of the same energy shot forth from his body up to the heavens, tearing through sky and cloud.

The atmosphere crackled, charged by whatever Dartz had done and from the vapours that danced and swirled in tremendous patterns, tiny gems of white light began to fall.

---

Amelda couldn’t quite understand what was happening.

Why was Dino Dude here; in front of him?

Why is he here now when there’s no one left to save? He was supposed to save Miiruko!

It didn’t seem to register with Amelda that Dino Dude wasn’t even real, it was a mere figment of someone’s imagination dreamt up to amuse children. So what if he was supposed to be a hero? In reality he was probably nothing more than a hallucination.

But none of that made itself clear to Amelda. Instead he felt an immense anger that had masqueraded itself as sadness for so long swell and burst. Feelings that he had been ashamed to feel at the time surfaced and Amelda surged towards the living doll and seized him by the shoulders.

“Why didn’t you save him? Why?” Amelda demanded, furiously shaking the warrior in front of him.

It did nothing; just stood there and took the onslaught.

“You – you were his hero – the one he looked up to,” Amelda was hysterical with rage. “Why didn’t you save him you bastard?”

Dino Dude regarded Amelda with a look of interest and cocked his head to the side. “Because,” the figure replied, slowly removing his helmet. “I had to save you.”

And standing in the place of Dino Dude, was Dartz.

Amelda seemed not to realise, or if he did, he didn’t care that it was Dartz in front of him. He felt like he was turning himself inside out, his insides felt raw.

“But he believed in you – why didn’t you save him?”

“He believes in you,” Dartz answered. “You are the one that needs to save him.”

“Save him? Save him? How – he’s dead dammit. Fucking buried six feet under rubble waste and scores of other bodies…” Amelda’s own body was trembling. “He’s dead,” he whispered, finally allowing himself to accept what had happened. “He’s dead and it’s all my fault.”

I didn’t save him…

Amelda crumpled forward onto Dartz and allowed himself to be embraced by the Atalntian.

Dartz waited a moment before he shook his head and spoke. “You can still save him, my child.”

“What?” Amelda’s voice was barely a whisper. “How?”

Dartz pointed behind him. Amelda turned to look and saw Miruko standing beside him, smiling.

“Big brother, are we gonna go home now?” he asked.

Amelda stared into huge, hopeful eyes that gradually turned soft blue.

Miiruko?

His brother was disappearing in front of him! No, not disappearing, changing.

“Amelda! Help me!”

“Varon?”

He sounds so desperate…

“I don’t want to die.”

I don’t want you to.

“Varon, what’s going on?”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

We don’t have to be alone, we have each other.

“He believes in you – save him,” Dartz said before he was consumed in an almighty ball of bright white light.

Amelda woke with a start, confused. Wasn’t he already awake?

That encounter couldn’t have been a dream, could it?

At that moment, he noticed a glimmer of light through his window, followed by a gloved hand and –

“Varon!”

A reflex unlike any other took over and Amelda leapt through his window, the glass shattering with a million cries as the lithe body open and reached out for the other falling man.

Hmm…that sounded a lot like Amelda, Varon thought to himself. But it couldn’t have been…

“Varon, you idiot!”

Varon’s eyes tore themselves open as he felt someone grab hold of him. He twisted his head and saw Amelda pulling him into an embrace.

“Varon, what are you doing here?” Amelda asked softly.

“What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like? I’m saving you, dumbass.”

“Aren’t you angry?” Varon blinked.

Amelda smiled. “Why would I be angry?”

“Well – because –” Varon began but couldn’t find the words to finish, but he didn’t have to.

“I wouldn’t save you if I was,” Amelda answered.

A warm, sorta fuzzy feeling spread through Varon and in a fit of unfamiliar emotion, he hugged Amelda, and Amelda allowed himself to be hugged. It was actually kinda nice.

But of course, like usual, Varon just had to ruin it.

“Erm, Amelda?” he said.

“What?”

“You know how you said you were gonna save me? How exactly are you gonna go about doing that?”

Amelda cursed. He hadn’t thought about that.

A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, followed by the roll of thunder. Amelda was startled and latched on tighter to Varon, burying his head against the other man’s chest. He had been so geared up before, he had forgotten it was even raining. Another apocalyptic crash and Amelda whimpered slightly.

Varon gently stroked his back and whispered to him soothingly.

“It’s alright, mate. It’s all gonna be fine.”

At this moment, thousands of tiny little lights began to approach them, swirling around them like glitter in a snow globe.

“Amelda…look.”

The red haired male lifted his eyes, coerced by the calmness of Varon’s orders. He was surprised to find how safe and protected he felt just by having Varon there.

“They’re – they’re beautiful,” he whispered, watching with mute fascination as the lights danced around them.

Varon laughed a little when one of them landed on his nose, and delighted in the strange sensation that they gave when they touched their skin.

Slowly, the lights came together and began to make small shapes which banded together to create bigger shapes until two distinct forms grew out from them; more specifically, that is a boy and a woman.

Blue and grey eyes were wide with wonder.

“Mother?”

“Miiruko…”

The angel-like creatures smiled at the pair as they reached out and encircled them with a marvellous warmth.

“I love you…” they said in unison, in the most beautiful voice imagination, so comforting and pure. The two warriors closed their eyes. If this was how they were to die then they felt no fear; they felt content, even if they didn’t want to pass on.

The lights grew brighter as they all neared the Earth, and somehow, Varon and Amelda’s descent began to slow. Both were more than a little stunned to feel solid ground beneath their feet.

But they did.

As suddenly as they had appeared, their two guardians seemed to have vanished again.

“What just happened?” Varon asked, still slightly bewildered by what had just occurred. He looked up to the room that they had both emerged from – there was no way they could be standing there if they had fallen from that height.

“I’m not sure,” Amelda answered. “Do you think it was real?”

Varon was about to shake his head in the negative, but before he did he noticed something floating. It was smooth and small, shaped like a tear and glimmered like water. It should have been falling so much faster, but Varon saw that it was being lowered by three of the glistening lights from before. He held out his hand palm upwards and the shard of glass landed inside.

He smiled.

“It was definitely real, mate.”

Dartz smiled as he watched two of his three warriors walk back into the great building, so much closer than when they had left it. Then he smiled at the two figures just outside his window.

Mother Mary and Miiruko gazed benevolently at Dartz, not the least bit fazed by his impromptu summoning of them. If anything, they wondered why he had not called them sooner.

“Thank you,” Dartz was genuinely grateful to them. “May your souls find peace.”

The two simmering spirits nodded before flying towards the heavens where they dissipated back into the tiny gems of light which were ultimately lost in all the rain.

---

Amelda trembled unwillingly beneath his heavy covers.

Gods, how he hated the rain, but if there was one thing he hated more it was thunder.

It’s no use, he thought to himself hopelessly. I can’t sleep.

He kicked off the duvets and sighed as he stared out of the window before turning sharply away. Amelda stood up, wondering whether or not it would be wise to put something else on before venturing out of the room. It was a chilly night and he was only in his tank top and boxers, but he just couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t want another second alone.

For some reason, he found himself helplessly drawn to Varon’s room. It was only when he was right in front of the door about to knock that he realised where he was.

How crazy – he spent most of their time together wanting to get away from the other man, and yet mere moment s away from him he wanted to see Varon again.

Is this what people mean by friendship? Or is it something else?

He leant towards the door so that he could discern whether or not Varon was sleeping. He could hear something moving behind the door, scratching on the floor and then –

“Oww, bugger me!”

“Varon, are you alright?” concerned, Amelda threw open the door.

Varon was sat on the floor surrounded by feathers, food wrappers, beer bottles and more things than he cared to name and number. But one thing that stood out from the rest was the broken glass dotted with water droplets. He looked at the window and found that it was half missing, and the remainder was jagged and stained by streaks of blood.

“Amelda!” Varon seemed slightly shocked, but he hid it well enough. “What are you doing here?” he asked as casually as he could.

Amelda only shrugged in answer. Really, it was almost ironic.

“Do you want some help?”

Surprise made itself evident of Varon’s face again, but he only smiled a little before answering. “Nah, it’s alright mate. I’m too bushed to sort this mess out tonight.”

The taller male nodded at the window. “What about that?”

Varon ran a hand through his hair. “Ah, that…Uh, I was just gonna leave it until the morning.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Amelda scolded. “You’ll freeze in here tonight. Let’s go.”

Varon blinked in that way that told you he had heard what you had said, but didn’t have a clue as to what you were talking about.

“Eh?” he said as if to caption the picture.

“You can stay in my room tonight,” Amelda said in a soft tone.

A bright grin affixed itself to Varon’s face. “Alright mate, but I gotta warn you – I like to sleep in the buff, okay?”

---

“You couldn’t sleep, could you?” Varon asked as he and Amelda entered the latter’s room.

Amelda’s answer was quiet. “No. No I couldn’t.”

“It was the thunder wasn’t it?”

Amelda stared at the other boy wide eyed despite the darkness of his chamber. It was scary how perceptive Varon was sometimes, and how well the other boy seemed to know him.

“How did you know?”

“I noticed just before. And, and you talk in your sleep a lot, Amelda,” Varon said with a soft smile. “And I know that sometimes you have nightmares because I can hear you, even in my room, screaming,” he paused, not wanting to push Amelda too far, but the other still seemed okay. “But it’s only on stormy nights that I hear you cry.”

Amelda’s eyes were trained on the floor, his shoulders were shaking.

“Amelda?”

He looked up; he was fighting back tears.

“It reminds me of the tanks – when they – when the tanks came and took everyone away and left me behind. Left me alone. When I hear the thunder I here them coming and I wonder ‘who’s next?’ and I – I’m scared Varon,” he admitted. “I’m just so scared because I don’t want to lose people I care about anymore – I pretend I’m angry, but I’m scared because there’s nothing I can do to stop people leaving me…”

Varon wrapped Amelda in an awkward hug. “It’s alright, Amelda,” he whispered. “Everyone’s afraid of something – I’m scared of fire,” he admitted.

The two stood like that for a while, just the two of them together, before cramp set in and one of them switched on the light.

“What happened in here?” Varon gasped as he stared at the shattered window.

Amelda frowned. “It must have happened when I jumped out of it,” he answered.

Varon went over to the window and began to pick up some of the broken shards.

“Oww!” he exclaimed, more from the shock of cutting himself than any real pain.

It was only then that Amelda noticed that Varon’s hands were scored by multiple cuts and covered in trails of drying blood. He noted with mute horror that there was another gash that ran partway across his wrist.

“Varon –” he didn’t continue. The look of shame on the younger biker’s face was enough to convince him that he knew that he had done something stupid beyond words. Instead, Amelda only sighed, and looked around for something to bandage up the cuts.

I don’t have a First Aid kit, so I’ll just have to use something else…Ah, that will do!

Amelda snatched up something cotton from on top of his chest of drawers and began to tear off strips of fabric which he then wrapped around Varon’s hands. It took Varon a few moments to realise what Amelda was doing.

“But – but that’s your favourite!” he exclaimed.

Amelda only smiled as he continued to shred his beloved tank top. “Don’t worry about me, I robbed a lingerie store, remember?” he smirked.

They laughed.

“I was wrong,” Varon admitted.

“Oh?”

“Maybe you do know how to have fun.”

Amelda chuckled as he finished bandaging Varon’s hands.

“Amelda?”

“You just can’t stay quiet for a moment, can you?”

“No – well, maybe –”

But he was cut off when Amelda covered his mouth with his own…

---

Dartz tucked each of his warriors into his bed with a smile, but sighed when he realised that it didn’t really matter how well he did it, for Varon would end up taking all the covers anyway.

But still –

He had an almost fatherly look about him as he kissed each of them on the forehead before settling down in a chair next to the bed.

It was strange. His bed had always felt too big and so empty, and now he knew why. Watching his three chosen warriors dreaming he could feel the warmth from the divan and in that moment, he knew that everything was going to work out. It might not happen the way he had planned, but whatever the consequences, they would be able to live with them.

After all, all four of them had already faced the most difficult challenge of their lives. Everything else would be child’s play in comparison.

Before closing his eyes for his first restful sleep in millennia, Dartz cast a glance out of his window and smiled.

It’s over.

The rain had finally stopped.

Amelda woke with a start.

His dreams were just getting weirder and weirder.

And I’m still so tired – it’s as if I barely slept at all last night.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a load snore. He turned to his left and found himself looking at a snoozing Raphael.

What the – how did I end up here?

He recognised the furnishings in the room as belonging to Dartz, so he concluded that he must have been in Dartz’s bed, in his bedroom. But how he had gotten there was a different matter. He didn’t quite know what had and what hadn’t been a dream. But he supposed it didn’t matter really. Whether it was real or not, Dartz had somehow managed to rescue him, and he assumed Varon and Raphael from their pasts to the point where –

Oww!

He felt himself being kicked and then an arm was thrown over his chest.

Amelda’s body twisted to the right and he came face to face with Varon, who was wriggling about, tangling himself ever more in the soft sheets.

At least that explains why I was so cold.

It was then he remembered something; Varon slept naked.

“Varon!”

---

I want to add a special thank you to Huajun Chen who first inspired me to write fic regarding the Doma guys. Sadly, she has now decided not to continue writing for this series which will be a great loss to all fans of the series. If you haven't already read her work I urge you to do so. It's funny and startling insightful, she is a great talent and I will sorely miss these stories.

However, it is not all bad news as she has now moved on to writing for GX with her wonderful abilities and humour, so for anyone looking for a good read in this fandom, look no further