I Was Born To Love You

Haniel gently pulled the pillow away and leaned over Kei, nuzzling the back of his neck and making soothing sounds as he cupped his wings around the two of them. "Shhh, Kei, it's alright. There's nothing for you to be afraid of; no one will hurt you, I promise. You can trust me, Kei."

Kei shuddered and made a small noise of protest. "Don't wanna go!" He whimpered

Haniel purred, the vibration echoing in his chest cavity, and nuzzled Kei's neck again affectionately. "But if I leave you here, Haru could come and hurt you. The thought of that makes me sick. I have to take you someplace where I know you'll be safe, and there's no better place for that than at home with me."

"No!" Kei protested stubbornly. Haru may scare him, but Dragoons scared him more.

Haniel grabbed Kei's shoulder and gently turned him over onto his back, looking down at him with concern evident on his face. "Kei, what are you so scared of? No one at the palace is gonna hurt you. I mean, what's there to be scared of, huh? I'm not scary, am I?"

Kei tried to turn away and hide again as he mumbled 'a little', his eyes still teary.

"Oh, Kei!" Haniel exclaimed, looking sincerly hurt. "Don't be frightened of me! I would never, ever hurt you!"

"Dragoons're scary" Kei whimpered. " 'Specially the mean ones that don't like Fairies"

Haniel took both of Kei's hands in his own and gave him a very serious look. "Kei, you don't have to be afraid of anyone anymore. I'm going to keep you and your family safe and happy, because you deserve it. You deserve all that and more."

Kei whimpered again. "W-why do you keep saying that?"

"Because it's true, you silly Faerie! I mean every word! Please, Kei, come back to the palace with me. There are nice people there who aren't scary at all, I promise. Please, Kei?"

Kei whimpered again. "Oh-ookay" He blushed, still cowering away ever so slightly. "I-if you say so"

Haniel pulled Kei into a tight hug, his heart filled with rage that his race had so mistreated the Faeries that the boy would be so frightened of him for no reason. No one deserved to live in fear like that; he would put a stop to it if it killed him. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Kei. I'm here to protect you."

Kei whimpered again but didn't pull away. "Wh-why do you want to help me so much?"

Haniel was quiet for a long moment, thinking of how to answer. "I'm... not entirely sure. It just feels... right. Like how it's always felt wrong to me to treat Faeries differently than anyone else. I can't explain it, it's just something I feel I should do."

"But you don't even know me, not all fairies are how the race is described." Kei mumbled. He rubbed at an eye with a little sniffle

"That doesn't matter to me at all. We all have things we're meant to do, destined to do, in our lives. Protecting you feels like that."

"I-it does?" Kei asked. "H-how do you know?"

"I can feel it," he said, taking Kei's hand and holding it over his heart. "Right here."

The prince, being a Dragoon, had two more heart chambers than Kei; so, instead of his heartbeat going lub dub lub dub like a Faerie's would, it went LUB dubdub LUB dubdub. His pulse was racing under Kei's fingers.

Kei's face darkened to the color of his tunic and he couldn't stop staring at how Haniel was holding his hand in place. It was mesmerizing and dangerous all at once. "Wh-why's it beating so fast?" He whispered

Haniel twined their fingers together, his long, delicate, clawed fingers curling into Kei's palm. "Because I'm excited, Kei. Because of you, I think I've finally found my purpose in life. When I become king, I'm going to make sure that Faeries are never mistreated again; I don't want anyone to have a reason to fear us like you do." He looked into Kei's eyes earnestly. "And I'm going to protect you, for the rest of my life."

Kei blushed and looked away again. His lips quivered as he felt his own pulse start to race.

Haniel gently grabbed Kei's chin and turned the Faerie's face back to him. Staring into the boy's eyes, he could see the emotions he was feeling as plainly as if they were written on his face; foremost among those emotions was fear, and Haniel found himself hating his own race for their stubbornness and prejudice. He wanted to be the one to erase that fear; he wanted to ensure no one ever had to feel that way again.

"Kei..." he breathed, his brow furrowing as he tried to hold back the tears he could feel coming. "Kei, you don't have to be afraid."

Kei gave a small whimper. "I-I..." He bit his quivering lip "okay" he whispered, giving in and giving the dragoon his full trust.

Haniel gently kissed the Faerie's forehead and hugged him to his chest comfortingly.

"Now, Kei, I need you to do something for me. I have to go to the palace and make arrangements for you and your family to live there, where you'll be safe, but that may take a while. I know you know that most Dragoons aren't terribly fond of Faeries, so it may take a while to convince some of the members of the Court to agree. I know that they will agree, though, whether they like it or not. They have to do as I wish, for the most part," he said, then mussed Kei's hair affectionately. "So you have nothing to worry about. But I need you to stay here and make sure that your sister is safe while I'm away, and I need you to get your family all ready to go. When I come back, I'll have dragons for you all to ride, so you won't tire your wings trying to keep up with me; you Fae weren't made for long distance travel."