"That much is true," Byakko agreed, folding his legs beneath him as he sat, his eyes not quite meeting hers. "But you might be forgetting something important, Suzaku-aneue-sama."

	Suzaku tensed. Byakko never called her that unless he had something absolutely important to say. "And what is that?" She said, tersely.

	"The fact that Touda- for all he seems so cold and removed from the rest of us, most of the time- truly loves Tsuzuki." Byakko replied. Now he was looking off into the distance, into the forests that were part of the boundary between his domain and hers. "More than you think, aneue-sama, far more. Perhaps more than anyone of us loves him- even you."

	"What do you mean by that?!"

	Suzaku was upset, but Byakko continued speaking, as if she wasn't becoming increasingly agitated, flashes of her building rage heating the air and illuminating it in streaks of red and white gold. His voice was unaccustomedly quiet and soft. "Exactly what I said, aneue-sama."

	Now he turned to face her, unflinching even in the face of her outrage.

	"Your love, Suzaku, is a ferocious thing- consuming, nuturing, protecting, but above all, binding. It's a selfish love. You wouldn't let our master die, because you love him, and because you want him to live. So you saved him despite the pain he felt, ignoring the why he wanted to finally embrace death, because you thought that anything would be better than never seeing him again." 

	He shook his head. "Touda's love is different. He loves, and because he loves, he wants Tsuzuki to be free, even if it hurts him. That's because Touda understands wanting freedom, I think. He loves freedom almost as much as he loves life, and I've never seen anyone who truly loves life as much as he does."

	 A pause. "The two of you aren't so different, really."

	Suzaku found herself, for once, speechless. "I-"

	Byakko waved her away. "Think about it, won't you, aneue-sama? I know I'm not exactly the smartest person around, and I can say the silliest things, but-" He straightened up, leapt into the air and transformed, the tiger of his true self casting her an enigmatic glance, before bounding away to vanish into the mists.

	"..I think it would help things for all of us.