She pushed away the darkness. Bathed it in her glow.

That's all I've known since the crash. No faces that I could cling to; no parents to kiss it away, no siblings to blame it on.

Alone in my bed, hurt and cold. Despair pushing me closer to the shadows.

Then she came.

She tripped and almost fell; then straightened up and smiles at me. All I could do was stare at her with the only thing I had; the cold darkness.

My pride wouldn't let me think she could do anything about it. I got even more defensive whe she told me not to cry. "It should be a happy occasion," she said, stumbling over the words. "I have a new brother."

The darkness fought harder against those warm eyes, that innocent, but wise face. I put my own face in my hands and waited for the tears and pain to return.

They didn't come, but she did. She handed me the most beautiful thing I could have gotten from her.

Not the rose.

Her smile. A smile that showed the love she had for everything.

The love she had for me.

I was speechless, this was something that had never happened to me before. Slowly, I smiled back at her.

The darkness remained, but was kept in check by light. A light she gave to me.

Then she left, and I never saw again. At that time.

No one could give me the love and warmth she had, but thanks to her, when others tried, I never turned them away.

I gained friends, found a life, had goals, and yet only one dream.

To see her again.

But the long search made me reality-based, and cynical. I wish I could take back what happened when we finally met again, when she hit me carelessly with a piece of paper.

"A thirty? Admirable."

The panicked look she gave me was something I still chuckle at. True, we didn't start off on the right foot, seeing as she tossed the shoe on it at me in our next encounter, but my heart knew and recognized her for what who she was long before I could make the connection.

It told me in my dreams, how she wanted freedom.

How she wanted to be with me.

It might have happened sooner, but a new problem arose. Another darkness, an evil one, came after us and other people in wave after horrifying wave.

She and the ones she touched, the ones who touched her, were the only ones left to fight it.

They tried to destroy her, but I wouldn't, and still won't, allow them such a feat.

I took up arms.

Thorns as sharp as swords. A cane as strong as steel.

And her love and light to make me invincible.

I was still weak in some ways, but to be near her, protecting you, is what I was there for.

She was so much stronger, and I take joy in knowing I helped her realize that strength.

We were together, but it wasn't to last. We were caught, and in those moments I realized one thing. Her.

Familiarity was building inside since our first encounter, but then we finally recognized each other without our masks, any of them.

My princess.

It pained me to be forced apart again when we finally found each other. That's how it was with us at that point, and beyond.

Warriors, sworn to duty. One captured; the other fights on. Eventually the light won out, but the battles always got more interesting, as well as difficult. Especially the fights at home.

So beautiful and you, and on occasion, more mature than me.

Of course I would be drawn.

Of course your father still wants my head on a pike.

Of course your mother still wants to invite me for dinner.

And of course, we still see each other through it all.

-Mamoru Chibi